Wandering DoGooders
by Sugarloafin
Summary: Vignettes about a few characters, how they meet, how they've gotten to be who and where they are - Not intending to tell the full story of the game, rather just a glimpse at the lives of a few Ascalonians as they wander far from home.
1. Chapter 1: Of Trolls and Targets

The snow was hard driven and left little trace of his passing, for which he was grateful. Though he had no real destination in mind as he strode through the snowy hills he would rather not have anything able to follow him. He was supposed to be scouting out a safe route through the mountains and bringing aid to the Deldrimor dwarves who called the frozen land their home, as well as the remnants of the Shining Blade who had fled there. As if any place in the peaks could really be called safe. Trolls liked to lurk in the caves, while the fierce avicara patrolled their territory on the open slopes. Not to mention the Stone Summit, who would not tolerate any trespassers in their midst. The only havens were the outposts held by the Deldrimor, and even those were coming under attack from the Stone Summit and their allies. But if there was a passage across the mountains, he would find it. He had tracked his way through the pathless Maguuma Jungle, he could certainly find a trail here.

Kestle shaded his eyes and scanned the hillside, wary of roaming avicara. There were none in evidence, just trees heavy laden with snow. He had that to be thankful for anyway. On his own he had little chance against the fearsome avians. He knew how to shake off pursuers in the woods, but he really didn't want to have to run for it. Often times fleeing one encounter meant running into another, and if he was going to be any kind of useful, he had to know where he was and how to get back quickly. With the wind wiping away the faint impressions his boots left in the hard snow, he'd have to rely solely on his sense of direction to get back to the outpost.

He had been steadily climbing one of the lower hills in the hopes of getting an overview of the area, but the slope ended in a steeply sided valley feeding into the mouth of a cave. The valley curved away and he could not see inside the cavern. There was no way he could climb the walls with the snow as hard packed and slippery as it was. Into the cave or back the way he came were the only options. Despite his instincts telling him trolls were almost certainly around the corner he slowly made his way into the valley. Perhaps the cave had another opening that would let him see more of the terrain. Once in the steeply sided crevice the wind was almost completely cut off. The respite from the biting gusts was enough to keep him heading towards the cave, but as he got closer and no longer had the wind howling in his ears he began to hear sounds of a struggle from the other side of the snow wall. Unmistakably there were the roars of the trolls, and he halted sharply. The sound that got him moving again though was the clear yell of a man in pain.

Kestle ran as best he could on the hardened snow and skidded around the corner into the mouth of the cavern. Easily as large as the biggest building he'd seen and supported by huge ice pillars, the cave was enormous and housed more mountain trolls than he had ever seen in one place before. And standing in a circle of rampaging trolls was a lone man. He was armed with only a staff, the metal of which was nicked and dented from blocking the trolls attacks. His arm was torn and bleeding but he still clung to the staff and brought it around to block and parry the trolls vicious claws. The other hand waved and gestured forming what Kestle realized must be magic. For as outnumbered as he was, the man was holding out remarkably well. Kestle had some small affinity for the elemental magics and recognized the protective ward that sparkled around the lone elementalist. But that one spell could not be enough to hold back so many trolls. What kind of powerful enchantments was this man casting to be so relatively unharmed against so many? Then the ranger saw the dead bodies piled about the spellcaster. Obsidian shards and stone dust clung to the blood sticky bodies lying in the stained snow. Whoever this man was, he had magic enough to defend himself and slay his enemies with the deadly power of the elements.

Without another moment's hesitation Kestle dropped his bag and grabbed his bow off his back. A second to whisper the nearly forgotten words to set his arrows alight and then he was firing into the trolls midst. The wood of the arrows remembered the old language that now only rangers knew and spread fire throughout the cave. It sizzled in the snow, but caught quickly on the trolls' leathery hides. He saw one go down, then another, they were weakened greatly by the spellcaster's power, but they still far outnumbered him. Kestle ran forward, hoping to draw some of the trolls away from the injured man, but they paid him no mind. They knew to bring down the weaker one first. And there was no doubt that the elementalist's strength was waning. His blocks were clumsy, and not always successful at diverting the trolls' claws. Another of Kestle's fire tipped arrows caught one in the chest and it went down, but there were still too many. He looked desperately at the embattled caster, hoping for some powerful offensive spell. Kestle knew if the man fell, he would be next. His arrows could take them down one at a time, but he had no way to survive against them all at once. He nocked another arrow, and as it flew he murmured a prayer to Melandru, hoping that she would help her two devotees live through the day. As he looked up at the geomancer he could see his lips moving as well. Whether he too prayed to his patron goddess, or if it was an incantation to another spell, Kestle could not tell. Before he could ready another arrow, a violent shake of the ground beneath him almost lost him his footing and told him clearly that it was an incantation not a prayer that had passed the elementalist's lips. As he struggled to get his balance, he saw that every troll had been knocked to the snowy floor by the geomancer's invocation. Before any of them could rise and continue the attack a potent aftershock followed the earthquake and killed them where they lay.

Kestle remained motionless for a long moment just staring in wonder at the man who could call up such power seemingly effortlessly. The few weak spells the ranger could manage were nothing beside the awesome fury of the earth this man could invoke. Though, now he just looked weary and exhausted by his long fight. His silvery purple hair was tied back in a tail at the nape of his neck, but long strands had pulled loose during the battle and hung in front of his face. He looked to be a similar build to the tall sturdy ranger, but was now slumped with weariness and injury. His one sleeve was tattered, but the rest of his robes had withstood the battle and looked almost as if they had been woven out of the stone he conjured. And despite his disheveled appearance, his eyes blazed at Kestle with triumph and even a little resentment at having been helped. It was plain that he had not come on those trolls by accident. He had been hunting them as surely as Kestle had been hunting a trail through the snowy hills.

But in an instant the ferocity in the man's eyes turned to pain and exhaustion. Before Kestle could reach him he had fallen to the snow among the bodies of the trolls he had slain. The elementalist was still conscious but that was fading fast. Besides his bloodied arm, there was red spreading from a deep wound in his side that the ranger had not seen while they were fighting. Kestle fumbled with the pouch at his belt for his bottle of troll unguent. As far as the ranger was concerned the only thing the beasts were good for was producing such a potent healing elixir. And by the number of troll bodies sprawled around them he had no fear of using it up on the mage, he could always collect more from the slain trolls of the cave.

"I didn't know they could do that…" The man's voice came out as barely more than a whisper, but it still startled the ranger into looking at his face instead of tending his wound. He was just as surprised to see how young a face it actually was. In the heat of battle the age of the spellcaster had not been something he considered. Now the fierce burning eyes were glazed by pain and weakness, and the furrowed brow was smoothed as the man lost consciousness. The geomancer looked to be the same age as Kestle, who was considered young compared to the prince he had followed through the northern mountains. He also looked like a man of Ascalon. Could he have been among those that followed the prince as well?

Without wasting anymore time Kestle patched up the young mage's wounds as best he knew how. The healing unguent helped, but the bottle was almost empty by the time he was done. Other than the wound in his side, none of his other injuries were too serious, but they were many. The elementalist had been scratched and scored in numerous places by the trolls' claws. His armor had absorbed most of the damage, but not all. That done, the ranger left the cave in search of firewood. He couldn't leave the other man there unconscious as he was, and if they were going to stay the night in the cave, they would need fire. The hills were heavily forested so it didn't take long to find an armful of dry wood. Kestle knew he would have to go out again for more before the night was done, but it would do for starters.

Once he had it all in a pile he again spoke the few words needed to set the wood aflame. There were definite advantages to coming from a large family of mostly rangers. While he was expected to conform to their mold, he was also taught all the old family secrets that few now remembered. The languages that trees and animals knew were among the things passed down to him from his family. He was still glad he had left his village when he had, though. He was something of an odd one out there. Everything, from his reddish hair to his ability to cast small elemental spells was so different from everyone else. Old women in the village had often called him a changeling child, joking that he must have been switched at birth since he was so strange to them.

What would they think of this man? He thought as he looked at the sleeping mage. His oddly colored hair would gather him strange stares the instant he entered the village. Not to mention his choice in clothing. His armor was a shade darker purple than his hair and had far more ornamentation than the basic leather Kestle remembered people in his village wearing. And as soon as they realized he was a powerful spell caster he would be even more ostracized than Kestle had been. The ranger's hometown was in all ways a close knit community. It was far back in the Ascalon foothills so it was isolated from just about everywhere else. Everyone in the town was related or close to it. Everyone knew everyone else's business and no one was any different. Except him. He was very glad he had gotten away when he had.

The night passed in peace and quiet. Kestle stayed awake for a time watching the other man and refilling his bottle of unguent from the bodies of the slain trolls. Once he heard the far off howling of a snow wolf, but there was no other noise to disturb the night. The wolf's cry made him lonesome for his friend and companion, Kusrune. The dune lizard had been his comrade ever since Kestle had left the green hills of Kryta for the thick tangle that was the Maguuma Jungle. But dune lizards were not fond of cold and snow, so Kusrune was vacationing on the sunny beaches of Kryta, waiting for Kestle to return. As soon as he had helped the dwarves with their struggles, he was going to go back and do some journeying with his lizard companion again.

Kestle still hadn't figured out quite what to do with himself yet. At first it had seemed easy, leave home, join the Ascalon army, fight the charr, live happily ever after. Now that most of Ascalon wasn't there anymore, things weren't so clear cut. He had helped his people and his prince on their trek to reach safety in Kryta. He had fought his share of hopeless battles in the ruins of Ascalon, he had been dragged into Kryta's civil strife as well as the Dwarves' turf war. He had even battled his way into ascension in order to fight the unseen gods of the White Mantle. If the vizier was to be believed they were the ones to start all the trouble. And through it all, always it seemed as if he was just going to keep wandering, always helping whoever asked for aid, and never really finding a purpose to it all. Was that his purpose? Destined to forever be the wandering do-gooder? How many times had he told himself that when it was all over he'd go home again? But it was never over, he was always wandering further and finding more that needed to be done and no one willing to do it but himself. His home was still there, he had visited it after the searing. He had been so scared that all he would find would be ash and death, but it had been there as it always had been. The foothills hadn't been hit as hard by the charr magic. The villagers had picked up the pieces, rebuilt what was broken, and carried on as before. And Kestle had left, just as he had the first time. It was his home, but he could never be content there.

When the ranger came out of his thoughts the fire had burned down to glowing embers. The air was cold, but the cave sheltered them from the wind and blowing snow. Before he let himself sleep, Kestle made another trip outside for firewood. Once he had a good blaze going again he wrapped himself in his cloak and slept.

The dawn came clear and bright. The sun's light reached even into the cave as filtered and slanting rays. Kestle was surprised to hear the crackling of his fire. It should have long since burned out. But when the ranger sat up and dusted the snow off his cloak he saw the elementalist he had helped adding another branch to the merry blaze. His wounds had evidently healed enough for him to be up and about. Not for the first nor the last time Kestle was glad he always kept a supply of troll unguent with him.

The man must have heard him stir, for the mage turned abruptly and glanced at Kestle with something akin to distrust. Before Kestle could wonder at that, the other man turned from the fire and turned to a pile of oddments near him. There were various weapons, scraps of armor and not a few gold coins. No doubt the elementalist had gotten it from the bodies of the slain trolls. Kestle had never fully understood why so many creatures, including humans, carried around so much stuff they had grabbed from other critters.

Kestle reached into his own pack, that was thankfully devoid of any extraneous junk, and dug out a waterskin. He was just thinking of the path he was supposed to be finding when a dull thump startled him out of his thoughts. Turning to find the source of the noise he saw the elementalist's feet beside him and looked up to see an unreadable expression on the other man's face. Then Kestle noticed the pile of armor scraps and coins by the mage's boots. Confused he looked back at the man's eyes with a question on his face.

"Your share." The geomancer said shortly. "I figured you'd want to travel light so I put more of the coins in your stack."

Kestle just stared at him blankly for a moment. He had been traveling alone for so long he had forgotten it was an unwritten rule of journeying that you share the loot. He nodded gratefully and pulled the pile closer to him so he could stow it away. He had to admit he wasn't sure what to think of the mage. After the battle he had seemed to resent having been helped, yet now he was sharing the loot and even considering that the ranger might not want to carry three raven staves and an axe. He certainly didn't understand why the elementalist would, except that the miscellany could be sold in town. A few loud cracks later and Kestle had to amend his thoughts. The wood from the staves could be sold in town, as none of the three staves were whole any longer. Watching the mage stuff the planks of wood into his pack Kestle began to wonder just who this man was. By his appearance and voice he was of Ascalon, had he meandered a similar path? Had he too trekked through Kryta, the jungle and the desert? Since the searing, happening upon someone from home was rare. Many stayed to fight hopelessly against the charr, and still more settled in Kryta. Only the wanderers like Kestle wound up in the far reaches of Tyria.

"I'm Kestle." The ranger started awkwardly, traveling alone hampered one's social skills. "What's your name?"

"Keinen." The mage hardly looked up from his packing away of his loot.

"Are you from Ascalon too?"

"Yes."

"I thought so! Did you come over the pass with Prince Rurik?"

"I was with him when he fell." Keinen's voice was flat.

"I came just after." Kestle had been with a second train of refugees. The path had been mostly cleared for them, but that really didn't mean much in the wilderness. Just then the elementalist grabbed up his pack and started for the cave mouth. "Where are you headed?"

"Back to the forge. I need the money from this stuff to buy supplies before I can head out again."

"So you were fighting those trolls to pay for your trip."

"Thanks for the help." And with that he was walking away.

Kestle stared at the remains of the fire for a moment longer then kicked snow over the coals and strode out the door after the mage. It wasn't hard to catch up, the other man was loaded down with loot from the cave and Kestle was used to loping along at a brisk pace.

"Mind if I join you?"

Keinen just shrugged. "Another target for the avicara to shoot at."

Kestle took that as acceptance and slowed to a walk beside the elementalist. The man didn't seem in a mood to talk so Kestle let the silence stretch as they trekked. Their only encounter on the way to Droknar's Forge was with a lone Pinesoul. Between Kestle's fire tipped arrows and a small but potent stone missile from Keinen, the moving tree was quickly dispatched. Thinking they made a pretty good team Kestle decided he'd ask the elementalist if he wanted to join forces for a while once they reached the dwarf city. If Keinen too was a lone wanderer perhaps they could find their purpose together, or at the very least stave off the loneliness for a time.

As usual the forge was filled with the dwarves who called it their home and the few humans who had ventured so far into the mountains. Some humans did actually live in the frigid peaks, siding with the dwarves in their war, or simply trying to make a living in the harsh climate. Keinen immediately peeled off towards the merchant row to sell his loot most likely. Kestle considered following, but had another stop to make first. A quick glance found him Captain Bronzebeard in the crafter's corner. Kestle glanced admiringly at the dwarf blacksmith's handiwork as he made his way to the captain. Dwarf craftsmanship was some of the best in Tyria, he just wished he could afford some of it. Bronzebeard saw the ranger coming and broke off his conversation with the armor smith to hail Kestle.

"Ho, lad! Did you find Korg?"

"Aye," Kestle had tracked that far through the snow at least before coming across Keinen. "He pointed me in the direction of the Ice Caves of Sorrow. Said that was where the Shining Blade leader was being held, and possibly more news about that seer could be found there too. Said he sent Rornak on ahead to scout it out. I'd have gone that way myself, but I ran into some other trouble and decided to come back here."

"The dwarves thank you for your report, ranger." The gruff dwarf smiled, though through his thick beard it looked more like a grimace. "We need about a hundred more like you, but we'll take what we can get."

Kestle bowed his head humbly and made to leave.

"If you do any more scouting, we need all the news we can get!"

"I'll remember!" Kestle called back as he made his way towards the merchants to get rid of the various armor pieces that were his share of the troll's loot. Once all the scraps of metal and leather had been traded for hard gold coin Kestle set out to get rid of that weight in his pack as well. For standing off in the far corner of the dwarf city, and looking rather out of place there, was the Xunlai Agent. Kestle couldn't fathom how those dedicated professionals managed to be absolutely everywhere an adventurer might travel, but there they always were. A quick deposit, a few notes made in the record books the agent kept, and Kestle's account was fuller and his pack lighter. If he kept saving he might yet one day be able to afford one of the beautiful dwarf-made long bows he saw hanging tantalizingly beside the shop of the weapon smith. His money stash was still recovering from the purchase of dwarf–made armor when he'd first arrived at the forge. But the expense had been worth it. The handcrafted armor had saved his skin on a number of occasions.

With his business complete he had only to find Keinen again. The ranger hadn't thought the elementalist would be hard to spot with his oddly purple hair and clothing. Not to mention the fact that the man was, as Kestle was, taller than fully two thirds of the population of the forge by at least two feet. At last he saw the geomancer, no longer in the merchant's row, but rather haggling with the armorer about the cost of fixing the sleeve of his coat. Kestle hung back a discreet distance until he could see that the two had come to some agreement. Then the armor smith beckoned the elementalist to come into the shop. Kestle decided to browse the nearby shops while he waited. He had no idea how long a repair job on a fancy coat like Keinen's was going to take, but for the chance of traveling with a fellow Ascalon wanderer, he'd wait all day.

He really had been lonelier than he realized. All the time he had traveled alone he had told himself that he was better off that way. He had less people to worry about. It was just him and Kusrune and they needed no other. But he had truly missed the company and camaraderie of traveling with fellows as he used to do. He really was going to have to go back to Kryta soon and wander with Kusrune again. He missed the lizard's hearty, if wordless, company.

Briefly he wondered what his lizard companion would think of the cold and quiet geomancer, then that path of thought was halted by the sight of one of the most beautifully crafted recurve bows the ranger had ever laid eyes on. It was definitely well out of his price range, but ogling was free. Soon the owner of the weapon shop came and asked if Kestle was interested in the bow, and of course he had to say no. But that didn't stop the ranger from starting up a discussion of the finer points of bow construction and the advantages and drawbacks of the different bow types the merchant had to offer. So involved was he in the topic of bows and how to best use his modest money stash to improve his own weapon, that Kestle nearly missed seeing Keinen emerge from the armorer's shop. Reluctantly breaking away from the weapon dealer, Kestle headed quickly to the mage's side before he could get out of sight.

"Where are you planning on heading to now?"

The elementalist didn't look either dismayed or surprised to see Kestle standing before him again. In fact his face was rather blank, except for the perpetual look of slight anger that Kestle was beginning to think was the geomancer's natural expression. "Bronzebeard asked if I would follow his scouts to the Ice Caves. Since he's helping the Shining Blade while his people are in the middle of their own war, it seems the least I can do to help."

"I know what you mean. I owe the Shining Blade too. I was headed that way before I ran into you."

"While I'm more than willing to help those who've helped me I was actually thinking more of finding this mysterious seer. If he or she can do what the rumors say than that task will be more important in fighting the real opponents."

"The unseen ones." Kestle wasn't sure what to think of the gods of the White Mantle. Set aside the fact that he had been accepted by, and helped the Mantle before being shown what they really were, the thought of fighting things that were worshipped as gods made him a little uneasy. But if they were the ones who had turned beautiful Kryta, the wildly fascinating jungle, and the icily majestic mountains into war zones, then fight he would. Kryta had become a place of peace for him and his people. Maguuma was where he had learned the real truth behind the Mantle and gained the friendship and help of the Shining Blade. And the mountains too had become a sort of temporary home for him with the kindness the dwarves had shown him and the other wanderers.

"Yes, the unseen ones." Keinen showed no sign of being upset by the thought of fighting deities. "There is something about them and the Mantle that doesn't add up. I also have reason to dislike any Stone Summit on sight."

Kestle suddenly remembered what Keinen had said earlier about seeing Prince Rurik fall in the northern mountains. The prince had been slain by Dagnar Stonepate, the leader of the Stone Summit. Kestle had met the prince back when he had been training as a ranger for the Ascalon army. Even coming later over the mountain pass as he had, hearing of the prince's fall had been a hard blow.

"Are you intending to make this a solo mission to save the world from the unseen ones and the Stone Summit, or would you like some company?"

Keinen didn't appear to be reacting to the hint of humor in Kestle's request, and the ranger began to be worried that he'd made too light of it in his attempt to be disarming. He really hadn't had much practice talking to people lately. Then one corner of the mage's mouth twitched slightly into a grudging ghost of a smile.

"Bronzebeard did say you had scouted that way already, and you are another target for them to shoot at."


	2. Chapter 2: A Monk Makes Three

With Evennia freed and Saidra dead, they were at a decision point again. Though, to Keinen it really wasn't that tough of a decision. There was no reason to go back, so he might as well keep going forward. After rescuing the captives, the next logical step for him was revenge against those who put them in captivity. And learning along the way how to defend against the unseen gods; who, by the way, he had in fact seen now, was just another step in saving the world from the evil he was supposedly chosen to fight. Keinen didn't put much credence into the whole 'chosen' thing. The problem was there, and he was able to fix it, and furthermore had no where else to go. And he'd be damned if he'd let anyone else become a bitter, wandering, 'chosen' hero because their home got razed by undead, Mursaat, The White Mantle, or vicious dwarves. He had nowhere to call home anymore, so he'd make sure everyone else still did. From what he could tell of his traveling companion, Kestle seemed to have similar sentiments. At least he still hung around.

So, with all that, there they were, on their way to the Iron Mines of Moladune, with the full intent of killing Markis. It was still just he and Kestle, there wasn't much of anyone else to join them. The dwarves certainly thought well of what they were doing, but they had their own war to fight. What few of the Shining Blade were still around were hardly in any shape to be fighting, even to kill their betrayer. Besides, with two such heroic heroes going who needed to join in? The job was as good as done. The only others that might have joined them was another band from Ascalon. Mhenlo, however had taken his group farther into the Shiverpeaks, fighting for the dwarves. Keinen couldn't really say he minded. Sure he knew them all since his academy days, but he had become very accustomed to working on his own, to the point where he preferred it.

And then there was Kestle. Whatever else he might say about the ranger, they did make a fairly good team. And even his habit of talking far more than Keinen did or wished to was less annoying than he might have expected. For the most part though, they walked in silence. Like they were now. The crunching of the snow and the rustling of their armor as they walked were the only sounds either of them were making. It was getting close to dusk and Keinen was actually kind of surprised they hadn't had any attempt at conversation yet that day. Which was to say, he was surprised Kestle hadn't made an attempt at conversation yet that day. It generally didn't occur to Keinen to start up an exchange of words while walking. Other than a hurried discussion of tactics before attacking a small cluster of Stone Summit, they had said no words since they had set out that morning. So it really shouldn't have startled Keinen when the ranger pulled a question out of the blue.

"Isn't that an Air staff? You seem pretty adept with Earth magic is all, it just seems kinda odd."

Keinen glanced at the staff in question. It was in fact a staff meant for channeling Air magic, but it was nonetheless useful no matter what element he decided to favor. "It is, and I have other weapons. This is just the one I carry the most."

"It looks pretty beat up, why don't you have a smith fix it like you did your armor? If it's your best weapon—"

"I didn't say it was my best, I simply said I carry it most often." Keinen decided to interrupt before the stunted conversation could go somewhere he didn't want. As for fixing his staff, the metal of it's haft was certainly scratched and dented, but it was far from being unsound. "It was carried through many years of the Guild Wars and of the marks on it, very few are from the short time I have wielded it. It won't break from just those."

Far from being intimidated into a different line of talk by his cold tone, Kestle plowed right ahead.

"Wow, family heirloom?"

"No." Keinen's voice was flat. "A gift, from a friend." He was not willing to say more than that. It seemed that message at least got through to the ranger. He stopped his questioning, to the elementalist's great relief, though he didn't altogether fall silent.

"Yeah I know what you mean. I've got a bow that was a gift from a monk I went through the academy with. I haven't used it since leaving Ascalon, but I still have it, sitting in my storage vault in Lion's Arch."

The land ahead of them was clear and relatively flat, only a few trees leading to deeper forest broke up the scenery. Keinen could see that there wasn't likely to be an encounter with hostile residents of the mountains to interrupt Kestle's rambling, and as he couldn't think of anything to say that would do it either, he was just going to have to listen to it for a while.

"Now this bow," Kestle hefted the rather dull looking weapon he was carrying. "this one was a real find. It doesn't look like much, no ornamentation or anything, but I knew as soon as I felt the wood in my hands that it was one of the best crafted bows I'd ever laid hold of. Whatever hero that necrid horseman had killed to get it had certainly known their bows."

Keinen was about to say something to kill the conversation, but then he happened to look over at his erstwhile companion. He was a little startled to see an encouraging smile on the man's face. Was the ranger trying to cheer him up with his talk? Had he realized he was treading on thin ice earlier and was now attempting to lighten the mood? Keinen was far too out of practice with interacting with people. But either way, he appreciated the effort, and honestly, the ranger had to some degree succeeded. It had been long and long indeed since anyone had been as considerate of his life and well being as Kestle, unwanted though it was.

"You know," Keinen began, letting a bit of good humor into his voice. "wood is really only interesting to me if I'm burning it."

Kestle looked almost offended, and Keinen thought for a moment he might not have had as much warmth in his voice as he was trying for. But after a heartbeat the ranger's face split into a sly grin.

"Well, stone is pretty much the same way with me, so it seems we're even on that."

They returned to silence after that and Keinen was glad of it. It wasn't tense silence, heavy with misunderstandings or doubt. It was just them, striding through the ever deepening woods, with no need for words. By then it truly was nearly dark, the tree cover making it more so. Ambush by Avicara, Stone Summit or Pinesouls was a distinct possibility. Though Kestle seemed to be having no trouble stepping lightly in the dimness, Keinen passed a hand over the head of his staff, willing the lighting that coursed through the weapon to brighten. Even knowing it would draw attention their way, he was glad of the bit of extra light about them. Kestle looked askance at it, but Keinen didn't care. He trusted the ranger to know where they were going, being not possessed of a strong sense of direction himself, but tripping on downed branches in the dark was not his idea of fun.

The light, however did attract a pair of somewhat cranky Pinesouls. Keinen almost liked fighting the giant trees, though they always made him wish he'd prepared some Fire magic for the trip. Earth was by far his best element, but enemies made of wood were just asking to get burnt. Apparently Kestle thought so too. Before Keinen could even finish the incantation that would wrap the two of them in a protective ward the ranger had rattled off the words of a spell of his own. Within a second a glowing red mark the color of flame appeared on each creature as if drawn there by Kestle's outstretched hand. Keinen gaped, startled out of capacity for motion for the space of a heartbeat. Kestle just grinned, then whispered a few words towards the arrows in the quiver on his shoulder, setting their tips aflame. Snatching two of the kindled arrows, the ranger took little time in letting both fly at once into the nearer of the approaching animate trees. Keinen, recognizing the spell, was not surprised when the whole woody creature erupted in violent flames. Without another moment's hesitation he pulled his little used Fire wand from where it was held in the straps of his pack and put the Air staff he had been carrying in it's place. A flick of his arm and a tiny fireball, not enough to do more than blacken a few inches of the woody bark of the Pinesouls, was sent flying to the second of the pair that was advancing on them. As soon as it connected with the creature's bark hide, the red mark drawn by the ranger flared and just like the other, the entire tree creature very satisfyingly began to burn.

By this time the Pinesouls, weakened and burning as they were, were also extremely angry. Keinen had to dodge hard to avoid being crushed by a large boulder the tree had pulled from beneath the snow and tossed at him. The ward he had set up would do little to deflect missiles such as that. Kestle too was kiting about, stopping only long enough to fire off another fire tipped arrow at the creature he was targeting, reigniting the flames that were slowly consuming the anthropomorphic tree. While his wand could also keep the creature facing him afire indefinitely, he figured he'd have to do something more dramatic before the thing could hit him with one of the rocks it continued to lob at him. He smiled to himself as he began an invocation. It was hard to concentrate and move around at the same time, so he hoped he could finish the spell fast before the creature could find another boulder. As it was he didn't have to worry, the Pinesoul was too busy trying to put out the fires from his last wand attack to hunt for another rock in the snow. He would have a few seconds to finish his casting. It wasn't until the elementalist lifted his hands to finish the spell working that the giant tree looked up. The creature had indeed found another rock to hurl and was just raising it above his head when a rather small but exceedingly sharp and extremely hot shard of obsidian blazed through it's woody body, severing both the upraised arm and it's round lumpy head. The rest of the body, still smoldering, fell to the snow in a misshapen heap of woody limbs.

"Whoa."

Keinen turned at the sound of Kestle's voice and saw both the ranger looking at him with no small measure of awe on his face, and the singed remains of the other Pinesoul laying on the forest floor with a quiver's worth of arrows sticking out of it.

"That was some spell!" The ranger kept talking as he went to retrieve as many of his arrows as were still unbroken. "I mean, I've got some small ability with Fire magic, but I sure can't cast anything that advanced."

"Where'd you learn how to draw the mark of Rodgort?" Keinen made his way towards the remains of the tree creature he'd decapitated, looking both for any kind of goods the tree might have dropped as well as a place to sit. That spell always took a bit out of him, that was it's balance for being so powerful. Once he found a limb that was relatively free of snow or scorch marks, he took a seat and gave his attention back to his companion.

"A fire mage I used to run around with showed it to me. She figured since I can do some small fire magic and tend to use burning arrows it might come in handy. I can't always get it to work that well, like I said I just have a small ability for magic."

"Did she show you how to conjure flame on your arrows?" Keinen, feeling the exhaustion lifting, stood and meandered over to where Kestle was gathering up the arrows he'd managed to salvage.

"No, what's that?"

Keinen slid his Air staff back out of the straps on his pack and put the Fire wand back in it's place. He wasn't equipped to teach any fire spells at the moment, and wasn't really sure why he'd brought it up at all. "When we get to the dwarf outpost at the Iron Mines, I'll show you. I'm surprised your friend didn't teach it to you before."

"We didn't travel together very long before we split and went different ways. Of the little bit of magic I know, most of it I learned in the academy or from whatever trainer I could find in whatever city I happened to find myself." At that Kestle stopped and took a look around. Keinen followed suit, not knowing what the ranger was looking for. "It's getting late, and though I can find our way reasonably well in the dark, I'd just as soon try and find the trail by the light of day. What say we camp in these trees tonight?"

Keinen just shrugged and dropped his pack then set his staff down more gently beside it. They weren't likely to find any better shelter nearby. Kestle set his own bag down, but kept his bow slung across his back.

"Well, we won't want for firewood tonight." The ranger smiled and jerked his head towards the remains of the Pinesouls. "Do you have that axe you pulled from the Summit earlier?"

Keinen did have the axe. It was small, a hatchet really, so he hadn't needed to break it down to fit it in his pack. Armed with that, Kestle set about chinking kindling and small logs off the less scorched portions of the bodies of the Pinesouls. Keinen helped by allowing the two of them to see via the lightning that ran constantly through the head of his Air staff. With just a little effort he could brighten it until it illuminated the area around him as if it were day. The purplish-white light pulsated some as the lightning ran through the stone suspended in the head of the staff, but it was more than sufficient. What it didn't allow them to see was the deep woods beyond the corpses of the Pinesouls. The spaces between the trees around them were an impenetrable blackness. No sound came from the woods even. So both of them startled badly when the tell tale noise of footsteps crunching in the hard snow flowed out from the darkness. The footfalls were hurried and getting louder, whatever was out there was running and towards them.

Kestle jumped down from where he had been chopping, his bow was in his hands, the axe was forgotten, still stuck in the Pinesoul. Keinen already had his staff braced in front of him and was preparing his mind to cast whatever spell might be necessary. Whatever was coming after them was most definitely not a Pinesoul. And anything else that might find them in that wilderness was assured to be worse than the weakling tree creatures. Keinen kept his staff glowing brightly. Whatever it was had already seen and was charging them, trying to hide in the darkness now was rather pointless. If nothing else he could hope to blind the thing with the bright light. When the running figure came into the circle of light Keinen immediately dropped his fighting pose in surprise. The monster he had been expecting was a woman. A small woman clad in lightly colored cloth armor kept running towards the pair with fear clearly written across her face. She didn't stop running until she collided with Keinen and had moreover latched onto him with her arms tight about his midsection and her face pressed into his chest.

Startled completely out of any capacity for motion Keinen simply looked at the woman that was clinging to him as if she were drowning and he were a floating log. She was small, her head barely reached his shoulder, and her hair was cropped short and the color of honey. Beneath her hair a swirling blue tattoo was visible. Her face was buried in the front of his coat so he could tell no more about her from that. Unsure quite what to do the elementalist looked up and caught sight of Kestle moving towards them with a laughing smile on his face. As the ranger moved to peel the woman away Keinen also caught sight of something far more disturbing. The things the woman had been running from were still following. Three Avicara were charging almost silently through the trees, the light from his staff gleamed in their eyes as they ran.

Without another thought, Keinen used one arm to pull the woman away and with the other he brought up his staff before him once more "Stay behind me." He told her succinctly, and when she didn't immediately comply he took a step to the side so that he was squarely between her and the onrushing avians, and as he did so he quickly called forth an enchantment to attune his mind to the earth about him and make it easier for him to call on it's strength. By this time Kestle too had seen the danger and was already preparing his arrows. Within another second one of the Avicara, a fierce if he remembered correctly, had prepared arrows of it's own and began shooting at the trio. The other two birds were braves, sword wielding warriors, and were within steps of getting their blades into battle. A fire tipped arrow flew from Kestle's bow and caught one of the braves in the wing. The bird faltered for a step then regained it's rush. Keinen quickly muttered the spell to bring up his protective ward once more. It was large enough that all three of them could stand in it, but it was meant for defense against melee attackers and would do nothing to protect them from the arrows of the fierce. Just as that thought crossed his mind one of those projectiles landed in the snow beside his feet and exploded, showering him with tiny burning bits of what was once an arrow.

"Take out the fierce!" He shouted to Kestle. He had no more time to think of the Avicara archer then, for the braves were upon him. Targeting either him or the woman as the weakest of the trio, they came at him blades swinging. His ward threw off the first of their swings, which gave him time to quickly call up an enchantment that would armor him in stone. He would be far less mobile, but with any luck their blades would not touch him. With slabs of stone orbiting him and thwarting the avians' attempts to harm him he was ready to try and cast a more complex spell that might turn the battle to his favor. Blocking with his staff when he had to, the geomancer tried to concentrate his mind on summoning the powers of the earth beneath the feet of the braves. Once he had the right frame of mind he began the long incantation of one of his more powerful spells. He heard the woman behind him gasp, but paid it no mind, his whole being was focused on the magic he was conjuring. With the last word of the invocation the snow below the Avicara melted away to reveal hard black stone. The stone cracked and fissured, steam and ash blew out the cracks with a wave of intense heat. The braves faltered as they stood on the erupting stone, clutching at their eyes as the hot gases and ash blinded them. One of the braves stumbled and caught a foot in the fissure. Quick as a flash Keinen thrust his staff towards the fallen bird and shouted a quick incantation. A powerful aftershock shook the forest and that as well as the shower of stones from the still erupting ground killed the avian where he lay knocked down. The other bird was still there and still very much able to keep fighting.

Keinen's ward had dissipated, and his stone armor was crumbling. He tried to renew the enchantment, but wasn't fast enough. As he saw the arcing of the brave's blade he was sure he was going to be in terrible pain, there was no way he could block it swift enough. But to his amazement, the Avicara's blade swung wide in a trail of pale blue light. Taking advantage of the brave's moment of confusion, Keinen began growling deep in his throat, a sound very like to the rumbling of the eruption he had summoned only a moment before. This, though, was the beginnings of another invocation, one that the geomancer hoped would fell the remaining Avicara for good. But the brave was too fast. Before Keinen could call up his powerful earthquake the avian slashed it's blade savagely across his torso and left arm. The elementalist, with his spell interrupted, fell backwards and landed heavily in the snow. He kept enough of his wits through the haze of pain to brace his staff in front of him to block the Avicara's next attack. The downward swing of the bird's weapon ended with the blade colliding directly with the small stone that floated in the lightning coursing through the head of the staff. The light of the staff wavered, but held even as the Avicara pressed it's weight into the weapon, no doubt hoping to break through the staff and in the process finish off the wounded elementalist. Keinen wasn't sure which would give out first, his staff or his arm. Pinned as he was he couldn't do much but try to hold onto his weapon as long as he could. He had no energy left to call up another powerful spell. All he could do was grit his teeth and hold on as the Avicara pressed harder and the lightning in the staff crackled in protest.

Slowly though he began to feel the pain in his arm and chest receding. He didn't spare any attention to look, but out of the corner of his eye he could see more of the pale blue light from before. Feeling somewhat revitalized he pushed back with the last of his strength, trying to knock the brave off balance. The bird did not move an inch. In the tiny space of time he could see it, the elementalist watched with horror as the brave's sword passed through the lightning that held the head of his staff together. Then, for a fraction of a second, the entire ring of trees that surrounded them was filled with light and sound. A horrible crack like thunder exploded in Keinen's ears as simultaneously his eyes were assaulted by intense purplish light. He felt himself get pushed flat to the snowy ground, and the terrible weight of the Avicara pressing down on him vanished. When he could see again, he looked up to find a very much dead Avicara brave lying in the snow not two feet from him.

Then quickly replacing that view was the woman who had run into them. Now that he could see her face he could clearly read concern in her large brown eyes. He wasn't sure what she was doing as she ran her hands over his injury, but whatever it was it relieved the pain rather than intensified it, so he made no move to stop her. "Are you alright?" He managed to ask as another wave of pale blue light flared up.

"I wasn't touched." She reassured him and continued her ministrations with what he now realized was healing magic. So she was a monk, that was fortunate. She moved aside to tend to his arm when he heard the crunching of approaching footsteps. Kestle was alright too then, that made him feel better. But then he stopped feeling or thinking for a time as he realized the full outcome of his battle with the brave.

"Keinen!" The familiar voice of his ranger companion was not enough to fully pull the elementalist out of his shock. "Sweet Melandru! Are you alright? What in the name of the underworld was that?" Even when Kestle reached his side and began probing at his wounds and helping him to sit up, Keinen was unable to tear his eyes away from the dead avian and the small objects lying near it. The haft of his staff he still held, but the small stone and the hexagonal cap that had floated suspended in lightning were lying dark and drained of magic on the snow. Only the small fire from Kestle's arrows, still burning in the corpse of the fierce, illuminated the small bit of forest about them. Kestle and the woman must have noticed the direction of his gaze, for they both gasped. Keinen assumed it was directed at either the dead bird or his broken staff. Broken. The word clanged through his head. The one remnant of his old life in Ascalon was broken.

"Whoa." Kestle whistled in awe as he left Keinen's side to examine the dead brave. "Who'd have thought that staff had so much power in it that it'd explode like that when it broke?" With some effort Keinen managed to stand and join the ranger beside the corpse. "Can you fix it?"

"I don't know." He replied shortly and gathered up the pieces. It didn't take him long to find his pack in the snow and stow the broken pieces of his staff inside it. This pain was not one he was willing to share with anyone. That life was over, the staff was merely a memory of it. A memory he still had, and a memory he shared with no one. Quickly changing the course of talk before Kestle could continue it, he turned to the woman still standing where he had fallen. "Thank you."

She shook her head lightly. "Don't thank me, I just did what I know best. You're the ones that saved my life." She hesitated then, as if deciding what to say. "Are...are you traveling to the Iron Mines of Moladune?"

"We're on our way there, yeah." Kestle answered though the woman's eyes had not left Keinen's since he had thanked her.

"Can I join you? I offered the dwarf captain in Droknar's my help there, but as you can see I've had some trouble getting there."

Kestle looked to Keinen for confirmation, and he gave it with a nod. "Sure, having you along should make things go a bit smoother. If nothing else, you're another target for the Avicara to shoot at." The ranger winked at her as he repeated Keinen's line to him, and she smiled in a way that said she got the joke even if she couldn't laugh at it, but Keinen didn't really find it funny considering what had just happened.

"My name is Keinen. My tactless friend here is Kestle." The ranger seemed shocked at being called friend, though he didn't deny that he was tactless, and truthfully Keinen was almost as surprised as well. Friend? Where had that come from? He hadn't acknowledged anyone as a friend since leaving the remains of Ascalon behind him. But all thoughts of the finer shadings of whether or not his ranger companion was a friend vanished when he saw the monk turn to him with a smile that lit up her whole face.

"I'm Siale, and I'm from Ascalon too."


	3. Chapter 3: Fixing What Was Broken

The three of them made good time towards the Iron Mines, and Kestle had to say he felt better about their chances of survival with a monk along. Not that they'd had any encounters with grumpy wildlife since meeting Siale, but still he liked to be cautious. Evennia had used her monk skills to help them out while they traveled together, but they had long since split paths with the Shining Blade leader. She had traveled the most direct route to the mines that were all that remained of the ancient city of Moladune, staying with the dwarven ice ship. Kestle and Keinen had disembarked from that vessel as soon as they were safely away from the Mursaat and White Mantle. For himself Kestle simply liked better the feeling of solid earth beneath his feet. Keinen though seemed to have had enough of Evennia's company. Even while agreeing with her plans and ideas, the elementalist's face would immediately harden whenever she so much as mentioned any of them being 'Chosen' or heroes. While that sort of talk didn't bother him as much, Kestle figured he understood. He'd been hearing that sort of tripe from everyone he'd met along the long road from the outskirts of Ascalon. By the time they rescued Evennia he had started to figure that maybe that was his answer. Yes he was a wandering do-gooder, and if it was because he was chosen by the gods to be so, then so be it. Like most things of a religious nature he didn't care to look to deeply into it.

At any rate, they had split from the head of the Shining Blade for the time being. Another reason was that they had simply wanted to stop at the Copperhammer Mines to resupply before tackling the task of vengeance and armoring themselves against the Mursaat. The small dwarf outpost really wasn't much to speak of, but at least there they were able to sell off some of the flotsam they had grabbed from fallen enemies and restock on anything they needed. The trio was now two days of walking from Copperhammer and if they kept up their current pace Kestle guessed they would reach Moladune by nightfall. He was leading them the straightest way he knew, and since he was the only one of the three with anything resembling a sense of direction, there was little debate about which way to go. In fact since leaving the outpost it had been the silentest trip Kestle had yet taken with companions.

Siale seemed mostly concerned with staying warm. Her light armor offered little protection from the wind, so she was often bundled in a thick cloak. Occasionally she'd ask a question about the terrain around them, but any conversation was short lived just because they were so concentrated on moving forward. A few times she or Kestle tried to pull Keinen out of his silence, but every attempt at that failed. With a few stony words he managed to kill every line of conversation they tried. While he hadn't been traveling with the elementalist long, and the man was by no means a vibrant conversationalist, Kestle still couldn't help but feel that his hard and steely attitude since meeting Siale was not normal. And the ranger had a good feeling that it wasn't the sudden presence of the monk that was turning Keinen bitter. He had agreed readily when she asked to come along. No, it had to be the air staff. It had to have been something special to the elementalist, though after the first time he was harshly cut off Kestle didn't try again to ask what was the big deal with it. He figured Keinen would tell them when he was good and ready to. Kestle just hoped it was sooner rather than later, the atmosphere around the trio was beginning to feel strained. The Keinen of a few days ago had called the ranger friend. Somehow he didn't think the Keinen that was then trudging through the snow a pace behind him would do so. Especially after the dwarf craftsman in Copperhammer had told the elementalist that the staff likely couldn't be fixed. Impossible though it had seemed at the time, Keinen's mood had darkened with that news. There was a veritable black cloud of gloominess hanging over their companion now. But even with all that, he still carried the broken staff as his weapon of choice. Kestle didn't get it, wasn't sure he ever would, he just hoped whatever it was would pass soon.

Besides being silent, the trip since Copperhammer was also uneventful. They had seen none of the inhabitants of the mountains be they Pinesouls, Avicara or Dwarves of either type. Kestle was split on what to think about that. Either they were having some real luck in their swift and safe passage, or something they didn't know about was afoot. No matter how far he got from home the ranger couldn't stop seeing enemies in every shadow. He'd been hounded and beset by malevolent critters since the day he almost graduated from the Ascalon Academy, why should anywhere else be any different than Ascalon? Why should anywhere else not be pressed by hordes of enemies of one sort or another? He supposed it was another trait he picked up in his little back country village. There, everyone was paranoid, and everyone suspected the worse of two options. Cautiousness, even perhaps over-cautiousness seemed to be one more thing he inherited from his family and village. Kestle shrugged at that thought. When traveling with a mage who appeared to put very little value on his own well being, someone in the group had to be prepared.

A sudden howl in the wind made the ranger pause for a moment as they made their way through the frozen forest that lined the mountains. The sound turned out to be nothing more than the wind swirling through the snow laden branches above them, but still Kestle didn't like it. The wind was picking up and if the heavy clouds hanging low in the sky were any indication, they had a chance of being caught in a snowstorm. He looked back at his companions when he heard them halt behind him. Siale just looked cold and questioning. Keinen's eyes were dark and glaring off into the trees around them.

"Hope the weather doesn't turn worse." Kestle muttered to Siale before turning and continuing on. There were very faint outlines of a road that had once run from Copperhammer to Moladune, and Kestle had no trouble following them for the time being. However, if new snow started to fall or the wind started drifting in the trail, he might have to find some other way to guide them to their destination. As it turned out, he needn't have worried. Just as the first heavy flakes began to spiral down in the wind and the last of the faint daylight began to fade, the high timbers and towers of machinery of the mines of Moladune came into sight through the dusky trees. Though, just as they reached those timbers and towers the storm really started to pick up, and darkness had truly fallen. Evennia or anyone else who might inhabit the ruins was for sure going to already be holed up in whatever shelter the mines could provide. It was high time the trio found their own shelter against the storm.

The ranger, sharp eyes as he was, couldn't see more than a few paces in front of him. Abandoned huts and ruins of larger dwellings loomed as indistinct shadows in the darkness and swirling snow. Not wanting to get lost in such a storm, Kestle led them to the nearest remains of what had been an ancient home. When it had been in use the building had to have been large enough to house an extensive family, but all that remained was a small enclosed entryway. Beyond the small hut that was still standing were stone foundations hinting at the mansion the building had once been attached to. These remnants too were swiftly becoming covered by the drifting snow. Soon no visible trace would remain of the glory of the ancient house. In the dark it took some time to find and get through the entrance, but once inside they were out of the wind if not the cold. As soon as the three were inside Keinen shoved the heavy wooden door closed against the storm. Though he hadn't noticed it in the dark and snow outside, the delicate wand Siale had purchased in Copperhammer gave off a soothing white glow, just enough to illuminate the tiny room. Kestle immediately dropped his pack, and more gently set his bow and quiver on the snow and ice crusted ground inside the small dwelling and began looking for dry wood. The hut was not empty, but what little it held spoke only the barest hints of it's rich past, and volumes about it's fall into decay. The ground was hard packed earth, frozen and unyielding, though an age worn tile in one of the corners spoke of how it had once been paved with fine stone. Little trace of furniture or decoration remained. Small drifts of snow filled the edges where it had drifted in through the cracks. Tatters of what might have once been a tapestry or a guild banner hung limply on the far wall. Beside it stood another door, this one blocked by fallen timbers from the roof. Whether it was blocked or no it went nowhere. It only would lead them into the skeleton of stone foundations marking the lines of the rest of the house. A quick glance at the roof convinced Kestle that it was stable for the time being, though a small hole where the timbers had dropped from let drifting snow filter down to them. He decided not to move the timbers near the door just in case. He didn't want to upset a balance many ages in the making and bring the ancient roof down on their heads. A pile of splinters in one corner appeared to have been a bench for visitors to sit upon as they awaited entrance to the abode beyond. Whatever it had been, it was about to become their warmth.

"Yes, this ought to do nicely for a fire." Kestle tried to sound cheerful as he snapped the pieces of wood into kindling. Siale gave him a warm, if tired, smile and dropped her pack by a wall. Still huddled in her thick cloak she sat on the bag and watched him prepare the fire beneath the hole in the roof. Once he had the scraps of wood into a serviceable pile beneath the opening, the ranger leaned close over the wood and whispered soft words known now only to rangers. The wood responded quickly, igniting with merry flame and shedding a flickering light throughout the room that dwarfed the pale glimmer of Siale's wand. "We'll need more wood before the night is out." Kestle muttered mostly to himself. Both of his companions had been so silent over their trek that he had relapsed into his old loner habits of speaking to himself alone. He caught himself and looked to where Siale was eagerly reaching her cold hands out to the fire. "But none of us should go out in this storm."

The ranger turned hs gaze to Keinen then. The elementalist still stood by the door they had entered through, his face shadowed and his eyes cold. He too had dropped his pack upon entering the shelter, but his right hand still gripped the haft of his broken staff. Though he was wearing thick black leather gloves, Kestle would have sworn the elementalist's knuckles should be white from the strength with which he clutched the metal haft of the staff. Kestle didn't know what to do. He wanted the old Keinen back. The Keinen that had not been perhaps talkative, but at least responsive, and with a dry humor that the ranger couldn't help but laugh along with. He wanted the Keinen that had taken on a whole cave full of trolls alone simply for the thrill and the money. Sure his face always had worn an expression of anger and bitterness before, but at least it showed something. Now all his face showed was shadow and darkness, dead and devoid of the spark that made Kestle want to stay by his side. He was taciturn before, he was silent now. He was smug before, he was grim and hard now. And Kestle didn't know what to do to pull his friend out of the pit he had fallen into. If a smack to the head would do it, he'd gladly rip the staff from Keinen's hand and brain him with it. Somehow the ranger didn't think it would be that simple though. This wasn't the sort of thing that could be solved like that. This was a deeper problem, and one Kestle had no clue as to how to solve. All he could do was wait until Keinen had sorted himself out or come to grips with whatever was driving him into the dark. Kestle was worried less about survival than simply his friend's peace of mind. In fact it seemed that Keinen would be even more ruthless in battle with his new mindset.

Suddenly a gust of cold air laced with snowflakes swirled into the hut making the fire dance and shiver. In surprise both Kestle and Siale startled and looked to the door Keinen had just pulled open. The elementalist wasted no time in getting himself through the opening, heaving the door closed behind him as he went.

"Where are you going?!" Kestle all but shouted the question into the wind that was swirling in the mage's wake. Keinen's distant reply came wafting in with another spiraling swath of snow.

"Not far." And then the door was closed and he was gone.

The fire, calm again without the wind to provoke it, continued burning merrily. Though it was small it had warmed the room considerably. Kestle pulled off one of his stout leather gloves and ran his bare hand across his face and into his hair. At least he had answered, some part of his mind pointed out. Then he resolved to think no more about his sulking companion. Noticing as he ran his hand through his long hair that it was soaked from the snow he undid the ties that kept it bound in a tail down his back and shook it loose, scattering drops that hissed in the fire. The beads decorating the two thin braids that hung in the front of his hair clattered together and then hung heavily on his shoulder once more. Not for the first nor the last time he considered removing the beads, but couldn't bring himself to do it. They were the mark of his clan, his family, his village. Every child in his home was considered an adult when they were allowed to wear the braids and beads of the colors of the clan. To remove them was to renounce the clan, declare that they were no longer a part of the family, an outcast. Truly there were times that Kestle felt he was an outcast in his own family, but he had never taken off the beads. No matter what happened his family was still that, and his clan was still where he had come from, where he would eventually return. To deny it would be to deny who he was.

All of a sudden he remembered that he was not alone in the room and felt an acute attack of shyness. To anyone who had had a less insulated childhood than he, nothing would seem amiss, but his mother and especially grandmother would be appalled. Where he came from it was very improper for a man to loose his hair in the presence of a woman who was not his wife, mother or sister. Siale, however seemed not to notice his discomfort and smiled faintly at him as she shook out her own wet hair. Hers though was already nearly dry. Even slicked down by the water it barely reached to her chin, and was drying fluffy in the warming air of the hut. Struck by the oddity of it Kestle couldn't help but chuckle.

"What?" Siale asked peevishly, apparently assuming he was laughing at her.

"I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, more at all three of us." He found it hard to speak through his mirth. "Where I come from everyone is so strict and upright about tradition. I was just trying to imagine what they'd say about you and Keinen. They think I'm strange for my magic, how would they react to you two? He with his blazing magic and more color in him than I think any of them have ever seen, and you with the amazing power to heal and your short cropped hair." Siale looked a little indignant at the last remark and Kestle hurried to explain. "In my travels since I left home most of the women I have seen keep their hair short, but it still remains that in my village it is strange indeed for a man to have longer hair."

"Well, it's not like it's hard to have shorter hair than you." She seemed mollified and a wry grin was spreading across her face. "You and he both keep yours longer than I'd ever see on a man where I came from. I don't know how you put up with it. I gave up trying to keep long hair as soon as I started traveling. Too much hassle."

Kestle just chuckled again as he rebound his hair behind his back. She was probably right, men of his village did keep their hair long compared to others he'd seen in Ascalon and elsewhere. He also hadn't bothered to cut it in a long time, right then it was laying heavily and hanging to the middle of his back even once it was bound again. He was careful to leave the two braids loose and hanging beside his ear. The red and black beads clacked faintly together and drips of water pattered from them onto the leather of his armor.

"Keinen wasn't always like this was he?" Siale's soft voice startled Kestle out of his reverie. All the mirth was gone from her now. Her eyes were filled not with wry laughter, but deep concern. It seemed that the change in the elementalist was wearing on more than just him.

"No." Kestle sighed deeply. "I haven't been traveling with him long, but something is definitely bothering him harshly."

"The staff." It wasn't a question. She too had seen that Keinen's black mood had started when the avicara broke it.

"Yeah, I don't--" Kestle's response was cut off by a thunderous crack that roared through the air from beyond the hut with a flash of brilliant purple light that streamed through the hole in the roof and the cracks around the door. Both he and Siale sat still staring at each other in silent shock and confusion for a heartbeat. Then Kestle remembered something that made the bottom drop out of his stomach.

"Keinen said in Copperhammer he was preparing air magic for this trip..." The ranger breathed softly. With no more consideration Kestle grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows from where he'd set them and rushed out into the dark and snow covered night. Siale was hard on his heels, her wand glowing brightly. She waved that source of illumination about like a torch trying to locate Keinen in the stilll heavily falling snow. Fortunately the wind had died down, only the thickly falling flakes obscured their vision. They stopped a few paces from the door of their shelter, scanning the dark woods and the clearing for signs of life. Nothing but darkness and glittering snow met their eyes. Kestle was convinced though that the lightning flash had come from Keinen. If he had run into some sort of hostile creature in these trees, surely there would be some sign of a struggle. But there was nothing to see. One sense having failed him, the ranger tried another. Completely still and silent the ranger continued to scan the trees, but did not really see them. He was listening. All around him he could hear the soft patter of the falling snow, the last remnants of the wind in the trees, Siale's quick and nervous breaths, and something else. Another sound of someone breathing, this one ragged and strained. He sprung off in the direction of the sound fearful of what they would find. Just as he heard Siale gasp he caught sight of Keinen deep in the shadow of a grove of trees.

The elementalist was on his knees in the snow, shoulders hunched forward and his head bowed low before him. All about him was a thick patch of dark ground where the snow had been melted away. His right arm hung limply at his side, resting in the remaining snow but still that hand held tight to the haft of his air staff. His left arm was wrapped tight about his midsection with his hand clutching at his right elbow. Much of his hair had pulled loose from it's usual tail at the nape of his neck and hung over his shoulders, obscuring sight of his face. Fearful that his friend was injured Kestle was hesitant to touch him, and instead skidded to a stop barely a pace in front of the elementalist.

"Keinen! Are you alright? Were you attacked? What happened?" Kestle tried to get some kind of reaction out of him just as Siale slid to kneel beside him checking him for wounds. There was nothing obvious that the ranger could see, no blood, nothing visible. But Keinen wasn't even responding to their presence, there was definitely something wrong. Then as Siale tried to peel Keinen's left arm out to see if he was wounded in the chest or stomach Kestle caught sight of something that sent a chill through his blood. The tree nearest his kneeling comrade was burnt and scored, splintered by some incredible force. Kestle put his hand to the tree trunk and let it's feelings come through to him. Incredible heat and light, sudden and sharp power, over in a heartbeat, and from below, not above as from natural lightning. All these things he could feel through the wood, and all of them disturbed him. He was turning back to Keinen to ask again what had happened when another piece of the mystery fell into place. Beside his friends on the snow lay the two pieces that had broken off the air staff in the fight with the avicara. The snow about them was melted away even though they lay there inert and lifeless.

Questions and accusations were on Kestle's lips, but before he could voice them Keinen himself spoke, slowly raising his head to look the ranger in the eye. His eyes were dark and slightly glazed with either pain and exhaustion or high emotion, or both. But even so they blazed in defiance of whatever reproof the ranger could hurl at him.

"The dwarf was right..." His voice was low and rough with a quality of defeat that Kestle had never heard in it before. Siale had succeeded in pulling his arm away from his chest. There was no wound there either. "It truly can't be fixed."

"Don't tell me you tried!?" Siale snarled at him, she too must have seen the tree and the patches bare of snow. "You saw and probably felt what kind of power was in that staff when it broke! To fill it with that kind of magic by yourself is beyond stupid!"

Keinen barked out a humorless laugh. "I know. Nothing that is broken can be made as it was. Why should I try now? What truly is the point of trying? None of us has ever been able to do it before, why should this time be any different?" on the last word he threw his head back and howled with rage and pain and defeat. Kestle was still silent. Somehow he had the feeling Keinen was mourning more than just his staff. He knew what it felt like to be so helpless, he too had plenty of broken things he wished he could set to rights. But that sort of thinking had no place in his head while they were all sitting or standing around in the cold and snow.

"Come on, we all need out of the cold." Siale nodded in answer and rose. The two of them moved to help Keinen to his feet, but as soon as the monk laid her hands on his right arm to pull him up he let out a guttural growl of pain and wrenched his arm from her grip.

"You are hurt!" She immediately dropped to his side again and pried the staff from his hand. Keinen grimaced again in obvious pain, but Kestle noticed he didn't resist.

"The tree only caught most of the backlash." The elementalist growled through his teeth as he stood, ignoring where Siale was trying to peel off the long glove that covered his forearm. She protested at his movement, but he cut her off sharply. "I'll let you at it once we're back inside."

She looked furious still, but relented. Keinen began making his way in the direction of their shelter, but swayed with obvious exhaustion. Kestle was quick to catch the mage when he stumbled and nearly went down, pulling his left arm over his shoulder to support the other man's weight.

"I can make it on my own." Keinen grumbled in protest, but didn't struggle.

"You've done quite enough." Something in Kestle's tone shut him up fast. That was all to the good, the ranger was in no mood for Keinen's stubbornness just then.

Once they were inside the hut once more, Kestle let go of Keinen's arm and the elementalist all but collapsed into a sitting position by the fire. The blaze had burned low, it needed more fuel, but it still gave off heat enough to warm their chilled bones. Kestle again set his bow and quiver aside just as Siale came through the door bearing the pieces of Keinen's staff. Those she dropped unceremoniously near the elementalist's pack. Keinen bowed his head, and Kestle couldn't tell if the reluctance to meet their eyes was actual contrition at such rash actions or because of the defeat he still felt keenly in being unable to fix his staff. Either way he still didn't look up when Siale immediately went to his side and began peeling away his long glove. When that only revealed his hand and the somewhat worn long sleeve of his coat, all she had to do was glare at him long enough and he pulled his arm free of the coat as well, gritting his teeth against obvious hurt as he did so. Beneath the ornate purple coat all he had was a soft sleeveless shirt so once free of his outer garment his entire right arm was bared to Siale's scrutiny.

She gasped sharply at what she saw, and even Kestle winced inwardly at the thought of it. It was painful just to look at. Stretching from his wrist up to past his elbow to his shoulder his pale skin was marked by an angry red burn. In places the skin was beginning to blister and peel. Slowly and gently the monk began running her fingers over the injured arm. Keinen tensed at her touch, but made no protest. In fact he stared at her eyes through her entire examination. After the first pass of her hands over the wound she began whispering what Kestle assumed to be prayers. Her fingertips began to glow faintly blue as they roamed over the burns, and Keinen's taut muscles began to slowly uncoil. With every pass of her hands the red grew less and the blisters shrank, and Keinen's eyes glowed more brightly as he continued to watch her face. At last she stopped and her hands fell away no longer shining with divine light. The burn wasn't gone, merely lessened. It would probably still scar. None of them said anything for a time. Kestle still stood by the wall watching, wondering at the new light in Keinen's eyes. The elementalist looked as he did when they first met, when he had dropped into unconsciousness and all the lines had fallen from his face. But this was somehow different, there was still the weariness and pain in Keinen's eyes, but there was also wonder and gratitude. And he still hadn't taken his eyes off of Siale, even when she slumped in her seat on the floor and he shrugged back into his coat. As for her, she just looked tired and sad and still a little angry.

"Healing magic can't do much for magic backlash." She started haltingly, her eyes on the fire beside her. "Balthazar help me if you ever do anything that stupid again!" Keinen didn't shy away from her wrath, he just accepted it. "If that tree hadn't taken most of it you'd be dead, and no healing can help that!" She began yelling and ended up sobbing, crumpling forward to rest her head on Keinen's startled shoulder. "I can't put things back the way they were before they were broken either, so don't go breaking yourself like that!"

Keinen, obviously unsure what to do with the monk weeping into his shoulder settled for wrapping his good arm around her shoulders and resting his head against the top of hers, whispering into her hair.

"I'm sorry."

Kestle decided that then was a good time to go hunting for more firewood.


	4. Chapter 4: Fine Line of Vengeance

When Kestle returned the fire had burned low enough that the only real source of light was Siale's wand. It lay forgotten against the wall where she had left it when they brought Keinen back. As for Siale herself, she was no longer weeping and no longer using the elementalist as a pillow and handkerchief, but was sitting beside him and keeping her hands warm over what remained of the fire. Keinen, sitting much as he was when the ranger had left, looked up as Kestle toed the door closed behind him. To the ranger's relief and delight much of the dull bitterness was gone from his friend's gaze. Something they'd said that night had gone far to snap him out of his funk.

With something approaching a thoughtful smile on his face, Kestle gently let fall his armload of dead branches and quickly restored the bed of coals to a merry blaze. Still, though, his thoughts nagged him. He wanted to know why. Why had Keinen been willing to risk his life so carelessly over a staff? Kestle had been brushed off once when he'd asked, and out of respect for the man's privacy had not asked again. This time he would not be put off. If he was going to travel with the man, he wanted to know why the elementalist thought it reasonable to throw his own life to the winds like that.

Turning to face the geomancer Kestle could see in the man's eyes resentment at the question he evidently suspected was coming. Still Kestle asked as levelly as he could. "Why? What can be so special about that staff that it is worth this?" He gestured to Keinen's arm and was somewhat satisfied to see him wince. "How can it be worth your life?"

"Shouldn't ask what isn't your business." Keinen's voice was cold as he said it, and Kestle had expected no less.

"It is my business, so long as I call you friend." Kestle put the barest hint of emphasis on the last word, not entirely by design. It had been long indeed since he had felt the word ring so true. Long indeed since he had cared so much about anyone other than himself or Kusrune. But now there was Keinen, and Siale. They were his friends, and he wasn't simply being nosy, he wanted to help. But to help, first he needed to understand. And to understand he had to know.

Kestle could see the elementalist's stubborn streak failing, and he tried not to look smug lest he lose what little ground he had gained. Then just when it seemed that the silence had stretched too long and Keinen would never answer, Siale came to his aid.

"Keinen, please." Her voice was barely a whisper, but it seemed to echo in the tiny room. And as soon as she spoke his name, Kestle could see the fury in the geomancer's eyes crumble. The stubbornness, however, remained.

"I told you before. It's a gift from a friend and so is precious to me." And still he was going to try and keep as much to himself as he could. Kestle wasn't buying it. It was the truth surely, but hardly all of it.

"And as I told you before, I also have a gift from a friend that I keep, but I wouldn't risk my life to fix it when it broke."

"Well that's the difference between you and me I guess."

"Balthazar blast you both!" Siale startled them both with the force of her shout. "Kestle, quit acting like you're the example of how everyone ought to be! Ask him sincerely and nicely and maybe he'll answer." Kestle looked away, knowing she was right, and knowing too that he was too long out of practice with dealing with people. He caught sight of an incredibly smug look on Keinen's face and felt no little bit better when it dissappeared as Siale rounded on him and continued her tirade. "And you! We're not trying to pry just for our own satisfaction! We want to help you, and don't want to see you hurt! But if you keep it all to yourself you'll end up driving us away, surely as it's still cold as Grenth's fingers outside!" When she spoke again Kestle could barely hear her over the crackle of the fire. "Keinen, if this is why you've traveled alone before we joined, then alone you will always be so long as you hold it all in. As Kestle said, we're your friends, let us help."

"Alright." Keinen heaved a sigh. "But it's not a quick story."

"Well it's good that I got firewood first then."

"Kestle! You aren't helping." It was amazing really how so small a woman could cow them both so easily.

"Sorry."

After that the crackle of the fire was the only sound in the small hut for a few moments. Keinen was staring intensely into the flames, as if trying to decide how to begin. Kestle simply waited. He had the patience of the trees when he needed it, and with Keinen he figured he needed it.

"As I said before, a friend gave it to me. I lived near Surmia, he lived in Ascalon City, but our families were friends and we practically grew up together." Keien's eyes didn't stray from the fire as he spoke. "We entered the academy together, studied and worked together even though he was learning to be a mesmer. And then, the day we graduated, we watched the fire rain down from the sky together."

The elemtentalist's voice was flat and hard and the flickering of the fire reflected darkly in his grey eyes, giving them an orange cast. Silence fell heavily on the three of them when he stopped speaking. They had all been there in Ascalon when it had happened. They all remembered. For Kestle, beyond the upleasant memories, Keinen's story was begining to draw things into place in his mind. The staff wasn't just a gift from any friend, but a childhood friend that had also been through the Searing. A friend who was no longer by the geomancer's side.

"What was his name?" The ranger asked softly, hoping he wasn't treading on dangerous ground.

"Savann." Keinen replied quietly, still without lifting his eyes from the fire. Kestle was actually a little surprised he'd gotten an answer so quickly and easily. He also wondered that Keinen hadn't corrected his use of past tense. Did that mean the ranger was right in thinking Savann hadn't made it through the Searing? Still, when the elementalist spoke again his voice was hard and sharp again. "You're both from Ascalon so I shouldn't have to explain the next part."

"No." Siale too spoke flatly. "We lost a lot of good people then, a lot of friends gone."

"Savann didn't die in the Searing."

"What?"

"I know you're thinking that's why, but you're off. He came through it mostly unhurt, same as me and most of the rest of the academy." Keinen seemed almost morbidly amused by their assumption. Kestle had to supress a shudder. "That was the Charr's biggest mistake. They killed a lot of people, but they didn't aim wisely or well. They destroyed the families and friends of those like us who were in training to join the vanguard against them, but they left us alive. Alive and hating them, alive and burning for revenge."

"Well, you did say it wasn't a quick story, what happened then?" Kestle spoke slowly, he didn't much like the intensity in Keinen's eyes when he talked about revenge.

"We went home." The intensity was muted some, but not gone. "We took one look around us, and then without a word we split and went each to our homes. It was perhaps a bad idea to split up, but neither of us wanted to delay the other by going together."

And now they were coming to it, Kestle thought to himself. He had seen Surmia, or the ruins of it, when he'd helped Prince Rurik free captives who had been taken there by the Charr. The city lay north of the wall and bore the brunt of the Charr's initial attack. There was little chance that anything had survived that.

"Surmia was gone and a smoking ruin was in it's place. The entire city was reduced to a field of ash and corpses. I knew as soon as I saw the first buildings there was no way my family had survived. I should have turned back and gone to find Savann then, but I didn't. I eventually found them, my parents, though I could barely tell them apart they were so mutilated. And as if that wasn't enough I found my baby sister dead in what had been a doorway, her head crushed like an egg." Keinen choked on the last word and closed his eyes, visibly steeling himself against rising memory and emotion.

"Keinen--" Whether Siale was going to voice her sympathies or tell him he could stop the gruesome tale, the elementalist didn't let her finish.

"You asked, so you're going to hear it all." Keinen's voice was low and dull. To Kestle he just sounded numb, as if that was the only way he could deal with the pain of remembering. After a moment's pause he opened his eyes and continued his story, still staring straight into the fire. "I burned it all. The house, their bodies, everything that was left. I couldn't bear to bury them in that rubble and ash, so I gave them the whole building as their funeral pyre. That's when I realized there were still Charr in Surmia. Sacking, killing or capturing anyone they found, and drawn to my fire as well as the prospect of another human to kill I'm sure. I can't remember how many there were, but I can still hear their cries of pain as they burnt. They destroyed my life with fire, it seemed only fitting that I destroy theirs the same way.

"I found out later that the Charr I killed then were only a small part of the warband sacking the city. Apparently the rest of the beasts found Cynn trapped in the ruins of her house. According to Mhenlo, what she did to them made my killing of those few almost seem merciful. But I never told them what I did after. Of them all only Aidan knows, and only because he saw it."

Kestle wanted badly to interrupt, wanted ask what it was Keinen did in his rage, even as he was afraid to know. He wanted to ask why Aidan alone would know the story, but mostly he just wanted to know why Keinen was telling them, people he'd known for less than a month, when he hadn't ever told Mhenlo and the rest who had known the elementalist since they were teachers in the academy. Perhaps, a part of him answered, it's because we didn't know him before.

If Keinen noticed Kestle's inner debate he didn't show it. Still in the same dead voice he continued on. "When I left Surmia I followed the warband trail back to their camp. I found their elders and priests, their wives and their children. And I killed them all. I burnt every trace of their camp to the ground."

Stunned silence reigned for a few heartbeats. "Sweet Melandru!" Kestle finally managed. "By yourself?" He knew Keinen was a powerful mage, but fresh out of the academy he had taken on an entire warcamp and survived?

"Yes." Keinen turned to look at the two of them, though he still averted his eyes. Their grey depths were fever bright and heavy with the weight of his telling. "Though they nearly killed me as I did. And I did that I know not how many times. I slept only when I could walk no farther without rest, ate and drank only when my body said I must or die. My every thought was focused on finding their camps and razing them to the ground. I burnt their homes, slaughtered their families, killed the old, young and infirm, every Charr I could find in those camps. But I did not make the same mistake they did. After I burned everything I could, I'd wait for the raiding warband to return so that they could see how I'd detroyed their homes before I killed them too."

Kestle knew he was gaping, knew his jaw had dropped, but he couldn't help it. That the elementalist had gone half mad with a need for revenge he had expected. That said elemtentalist had destroyed whole camps and warbands on his own and lived, he had not. Just trying to picture the raging fire magic made the few awesome spells he had recently seen come out of Keinen seem paltry and weak. Hadn't he said earth was the element he was strongest with? How had a geomancer newly graduated from the academy been able to decimate Charr war camps with fire magic?

"H-how?"

Keinen slid his gaze up to meet Kestle's, and the ranger was startled to see a small measure of the man's dry humor in their intensity. "Rage gave my spells a strength I've not felt before or since. And I hardly came through it unscathed. Many times I was fortunate to be able to drag myself to the nearest outpost in hopes of finding a monk. The last time I think I really was dying. I don't remember much, but I do recall looking at the arrow sticking out of my chest and thinking it odd that it felt cold, when the Charr always use flaming arrows. That was when Savaan and Aidan found me, healed the worst of my wounds with that healing unguent you rangers like to carry, and brought me back south of the wall."

"It was Aidan that tought us at the academy how to make it." Kestle mused softly.

"It was he and Mhenlo who rescued Cynn from the ruins of Surmia after she incinerated the Charr warband. So when they returned to Ascalon City Savaan asked if they had seen me there. They hadn't, but that was when the first reports of destroyed warcamps started coming in from the vanguard's scouts. From Aidan and Mhenlo's description of Surmia, Savaan figured it was me causing the carnage, and set out to find me and stop me in my madness. Aidan offered to help, though I was confused as to why until he told me later about his father and his own actions in the name of revenge." Keinen let out a bitter laugh. "As soon as I was healed I tried to go back and find another warcamp to burn. The combined might of Savaan's fist in my face and Aidan telling me exactly what you two just did stopped me. I guess getting lectured by rangers is also part of my 'chosen destiny.'"

"So what does any of this have to do with your staff?" After that Kestle didn't feel much inclination to not speak bluntly. Siale shot him a look, but remained silent.

"Savaan gave it to me as soon as I promised not to go Charr hunting on my own anymore. It had been his mother's, carried by her family through the long years of the guild wars. His family had met a similar end as mine, but he had been able to salvage the staff out of the wreckage." Keinen still kept his eyes on the fire. "It was he and Aidan who had turned me from the mindless maddness, and the staff was always sort of a token of that promise. Without it I feel like I could fall into that again. Even now, using any of the higher level of fire magic spells turns my stomach."

"Is that why you turned to earth?" Siale asked gently and the sound of her voice drew Keinen's eyes to her.

"For all that I give no credence to the 'chosen hero' nonsense when I first began using earth magic I felt for absolute certain that it was what I was meant to do. It's the closest thing to belonging or 'home' that I will ever have now. I do not think that is simply because of bad experiences with fire."

"So what happened to Savaan?" Kestle asked a bit more softly than his last question.

"The Charr killed him," Keinen turned his eyes back to the low burning fire. "just outside of Nolani. So when the prince determined to leave Ascalon I followed, because there was nothing there I cared about protecting anymore."

And with that the elementalist wrapped his arms about himself and slouched against the wall, apparently trying to find a comfortable position for sleep. Siale tucked her glowing wand beneath a corner of her pack to hide it's light then pulled her cloak close about her shoulders. She too found a place to lean against the wall and soon her eyes were closed as well. Kestle sat for a few moments and stared contemplatively into the fire. He often felt as if he had no home either, but he did, he just didn't belong there. If his family had been slaughtered and burned in the searing, would he have acted any differently? Perhaps, revenge was not in his character. But then Aidan, who had been his teacher and friend in the academy did not seem the type either, but Kestle had heard from the older ranger the tale of his father and the things he had done to the Charr in retaliation. What had he said? Something about the line between light and dark, the difference between vengeance and obsession, and that once a man has crossed that line and seen it for what it is, he will never cross it again. Kestle gently set another branch on the fire and watched it burn until he too could not keep his eyes open.


	5. Chapter 5: Boat to Perdition

Looking back on it, Keinen really shouldn't have expected any less. Glint had warned him, warned them all really, that their path would lead them to the Ring of Fire island chain. Keinen hadn't listened to that any more than he had to the part about him being a prophesied hero. He certainly didn't give any thought to what the words 'Ring of Fire' might entail. He was expecting Mursaat, and their jade constructs, and their fortified base. He was expecting the last remnants of the White Mantle, made all the more dangerous by being desperate. He had not expected to be dropped in a place that was a close approximation of a fiery corner of the underworld. No, perhaps not the underworld, the place was much too hot for the icy god of death. Maybe the islands were crafted to resemble the dwarves' notion of eternal punishment, the realm of that Great Destroyer of theirs.

And crafted was the word, really. Grotesque faces were carved into the rock of every outcrop, as if the carver couldn't bear to see any stone that wasn't leering or snarling at him. From many of these faces lava poured out of the mouth or eyes and collected in molten pools. Steam and ash rose from the boiling pools and made the faces appear to waver and move. Despite the feeling of the bare stone beneath his feet, and the way the rocks of the island seemed to sing to his geomancer's soul, Keinen shuddered. His magic would be strong here, but so would the enemies be. Anything that could survive in that place would not think much of a small band of human intruders. Well, human and dwarf. Brechnar the brother of King Jalis Ironhammer had come with a group of dwarves to help. Keinen admired the dwarves' courage even as he questioned their sanity.

Eve, of course, liked the place. Keinen didn't know the necromancer well, but any place that reeked of death as much as the islands was bound to be fascinating to a follower of Grenth. Cynn seemed to approve as well, taking an immediate liking to the bubbling lava pools and the fire that occasionally fell from the sky. She seemed a bit dissapointed that there wasn't anything left to burn, though, and when she realized the falling ash was getting in her hair, she decided she liked the islands a lot less. Aidan remarked upon arrival that the place had an odd and sinister beauty to it. Keinen had to agree, but the sooner they were away from so much fire and death the happier he would be. Mhenlo and Siale seemed to be the only ones who shared his utter distaste for the islands. Devona shrugged at the sight of the carved faces and Kestle just remarked that the bare stone would make enemies hard to track. Keinen just sighed, traveling with a big group was going to take some getting used to.

It wasn't just the three of them anymore. Mhenlo and his group had joined with them after protecting the king of the Deldrimor from a combined assault of White Mantle, Mursaat, and Stone Summit. They essentially ended the dwarves civil war by killing the Stone Summit leader Dagnar Stonepate once and for all. Keinen was actually kind of sad he missed that part. Still, getting to open up an eruption under Markis's feet and then watching as Kestle planted an arrow in the blinded traitor's forehead sort of made up for it. Keinen didn't know what to think of the seer. Sure she'd helped them out by infusing their armor with that whatever it was Siale had carried away from the body of the Eidolon. But if she and her people had known how to do that for themselves, and still had lost against the Mursaat, what did that say about their group's chances? Having their armor protected was a big help, Keinen knew. He'd been the unfortunate target of that particular brand of Mursaat nastiness just before the seer had upgraded their armor. In the term 'Spectral Agony' agony was certainly the operating word. It had taken a combination of his necromancer's death magic, Kestle's miracle unguent and Siale's healing to bring him around from that hit. So with the enemy's biggest threat neutralized, how had the seer's people still lost?

Some of the Shining Blade had come to the eternal torment isles with them too. Shadow had set up a sort of an outpost where their ship had docked on the aptly named Perdition Rock. Apparently there were the remains of a much older camp there, some story about shipwrecked corsairs or something. Her pet spider seemed to feel right at home there and wandered about the place making irritating noises. Keinen was tempted to step on the thing when no one was looking, but was stopped by the thought that the arachnid was the size of Farmer Dirk's last remaining prize-winning hog, and probably much meaner. Keinen just tried to stay out of Carlotta's way as much as possible. Siale and Cynn seemed to have similar ideas, which meant the three of them were also often joined by Mhenlo when the other members of the group needed to talk to Shadow. Keinen had a suspicion though, that Mhenlo and the others deliberately kept Cynn from the spider simply to keep her from roasting it and thus damaging important diplomatic relations with the Shining Blade. Cynn wasn't the type to simply avoid things she didn't like. She was the type to incinerate them until she either decided she liked them, or they were gone.

Kestle had made a small detour before joining them on the ship to the islands. He'd gone to pick up his dune lizard pal from Kryta. Keinen had initially had high hopes for the reptile, but it now seemed Kusrune had no interest in eating the giant spider he was currently hobb-nobbing with. The lizard was huge too, longer than Keinen or Kestle were tall. Siale could almost use his back as a highchair. She took an immediate liking to Kusrune, petting the leathery ruff around his neck and scratching under his chin. Keinen was going to withold judgement on the pet until seeing him in a fight. The lizard was squat, waddled when he walked, and had hissed at him as soon as they met. He was still infinitely better than the spider though. And if nothing else, if Kusrune couldn't hold his own in a scrap he'd still make a pretty snazzy pair of boots. Cynn seemed to feel similarly, at least she wasn't trying to give the lizard her glare of spontaneous combustion. The others pretty much just ignored the pet. Eve looked at Kusrune like most necromancers tended to look at most living things, wondering what it would look like when it was dead.

Keinen tried to pay attention while Devona and Mhenlo outlined their plan again. It was fairly simple. They were going to go kill of the last remnants of the White Mantle and coerce the Mantle's boatman to take them across to the other island, then they were going to bust into the Mursaat's citadel, from there they'd find the seals on the Door of Komalie and smash them, thereby releasing whatever it was behind them that would proceed to wipe the Mursaat out of existence. Kestle agreed it was the best and only way, but still thought it reckless. Keinen thought it sounded like fun. It sounded like they were all going to die, that was a given, but they'd get to bash a bunch of heads as they went down. And with both Mhenlo and Siale along, maybe they'd survive after all.

He reassessed that prediction when their group ran headfirst into a meandering pair of hydra. They had all seen hydra in the desert, and knew that the multi-headed lizard things were powerful and bad tempered. But just as the snarling basalt faces and fountains of lava looked infinitely more frightening than the endless sands of the desert, so too did the hydra. In spite of this, Keinen could do nothing but laugh full heartedly as the group began their attack. With longbow in hand, Kestle had the longest range of them all and so his arrows were the first to hit. As soon as he loosed the first though, Kusrune went charging off towards the hydra, _and he still waddled!_ The lizard was keeping pace with Devona, with his squat waddly body rocking back and forth on his short waddly legs and his thick tail swishing behind him. Keinen couldn't help it, he had to laugh. He snickered even as he dodged hard out of the path of the first meteors and ignored Cynnn's remark of "I think rock boy's snapped." Quickly the severity of the fight won out over his mirth, but Keinen knew for certain he'd never be able to start a battle with a straight face so long as Kusrune was with them.

Keinen had no time to cast his stronger spells as he was kept hopping out of the way of falling meteors. Cynn seemed no better off and was only able to fling the occasional fireball. Devona was doing well, though the creatures were so big, even her hammer seemed to do little to them. Kestle and Aidan had better luck being able to aim for the multiple sets of eyes, but elsewhere the hydra's hides were too thick for the arrows to penetrate very far. Kusrune seemed to be doing surprisingly well. His teeth and claws were sharp enough to slash through the hydras' thick hides. His only problem was that he couldn't reach much higher than their knees. In the end it was Eve who turned the tides for them by stealing the life right out of the hydras. Once they were weakened, it didn't take long for the two elementalists and two rangers to bring the beasts down.

Unsurprisingly Eve went to go poke at the corpses once the battle was over, asking the skull tucked under her arm for his opinion. Mhenlo and Siale made the rounds patching up any wounds that remained. Devona took some serious divinity from Mhenlo to get put back together after taking the brunt of the hydras' dying rage. Aidan meandered about looking for some sign of the White Mantle big shots they were chasing. Cynn huffed and brushed soot off her dress. Just as Siale laid a cool and healing hand on Keinen's arm, banishing the few rather superficial burns he'd sustained, he couldn't hold it in any longer and started to chuckle.

"Alright I give." Mhenlo looked up tiredly as he finished his ministrations to the warrior. "What's so funny?"

For answer, Keinen simply gestured towards where Kusrune was waddling happily back to Kestle. The lizard wasn't running as fast as when he had charged into the fray, but it was still funny to watch. Keinen would swear there was a smile on the dune lizard's face as he bumped his bulk against Kestle's legs and raised his snout to have his chin scratched. The ranger obliged, then looked back to the others with an eyebrow raised in question. Keinen's grin only grew wider as Siale started giggling and Mhenlo let out a soft chuckle. Even Devona cracked a smile as she slowly stood, and Cynn was openly sniggering.

Kestle stared them all down for a moment, then his face cracked into a reluctant smile. He turned and started following after Aidan with a fond "Shut up." said over his shoulder at them. Kusrune waddled leiurely after, making it dificult for Keinen to contain his laughter.

"I think that's the first time I've heard you laugh." Siale bumped against him playfully. "No way am I going to let you turn him into a pair of boots now."

Keinen finally got his face under control and back to his usual scowl, but he still gave Siale a rather roguish smile before following Aidan and the others up to the top of a basalt ridge.

"Find anything?" Devona swung her hammer up onto her shoulder as she walked up beside the older ranger.

"That looks promising." Aidan pointed down the ridge towards a shiny purple Mursaat structure. The thing was all gleaming spires and smooth crystal surfaces, but wasn't in fact very large. The eight of them plus the lizard could probably stand comfortably in the central circle, but Kusrune would likely take out a few of them with his tail every time he turned. The three White Mantle big shots that resided in the structure had plenty of elbow room. Just beyond the dark purple spikes was the edge of the island and the brackish grey sea. A rather humble boat was moored there with a very nervous looking man in attendance beside it.

Unfortunately there was no way down the ridge that didn't end with the eight of them sporting several broken bones when they landed in a heap in front of the White Mantle inner council. The slope was far too steep and littered with jagged edges and upturned boulders. They'd have to go around. Keinen turned and loped back down the ridge towards Eve and the corpses. He heard the rest following close behind, and Cynn muttering about the dirt in her shoes.

"I guess that means we have to go through that." Mhenlo pointed at the Mursaat tower they had been avoiding. It sat right at the valley where their ridge and another met, blocking the only path now that climbing over the ridge was out. "It looks promising in a whole different way."

"It looks promising in my kinda way." Cynn apparently could ignore soot and dirt when there were things to burn.

"It doesn't look like much fun." Eve countered. "Those jade constructs swarming around it won't even leave a body when I kill them."

"Let's see of we can get those jade things away from the tower and take them out first." Devona hefted her hammer, and Keinen couldn't tell if the motion was a threat to her enemies or a reasurance for her allies. "I don't like the look of that aura around the tower. Aidan, Kestle?"

The two rangers nodded and trotted off, Kusrune following after until Kestle put a hand on his snout and told him to stay put. The lizard sat where he was and stared after his master with the type of loyalty in his eyes usually ascribed to puppies. The two rangers halted when the five jade constructions milling about the tower were just in range of their arrows. They each picked a different target and loosed one shot. As soon as the jades turned, two with arrows sticking out of their shiny rock hides, Aidan and Kestle were loping back towards the rest of the group, pulling the jades away from influence of the tower.

Devona was already charging to meet them, hammer at the ready. Two of the jades were swinging shiny purple hammers and diverted from chasing the rangers to attack the human warrior. One of these got tackled to the ground by an enthusiastic lizard who had apparently been given the ok to move. The other three, equipped with longbows, hung back and fired on the spell casters. Keinen and the others scattered as the first arrows fell in their midst. He halted where Aidan and Kestle were making their own preparations to join the battle. At least with them he wasn't the only target, nor would he draw fire to the monks. He quickly pulled up an enchantment that would heal him so long as he kept slinging spells and looked for the nearest enemy.

Devona and Kusrune were still pounding away at the two warrior jades. The lizard had knocked off much of the shiny purple stone of his adversary, but was having trouble reaching high enough on the floating construct to do much damage. Devona was doing well, however, and had weakened the thing considerably with heavy blows from her hammer. Keinen took the opportunity to conjure up a hefty stone projectile and launch it straight at the jade's head. The construct fell flat to it's back and Devona finished it with a sharp downward swing. She turned to help the lizard with the other warrior and Keinen turned back to concentrate on the jade archers.

He was just a hair too slow, and was rewarded with a shiny purple arrow sunk into his left bicep. Before the jade archer could fire another he grit his teeth and started growling an incantation low in his throat. The ground beneath the archer began to split and crack, and waves of heat emanated up from the erupting ground while steam and volcanic ash poured up and into the constructs face. Thus blinded, the archer's next arrow went no where near Keinen or the two rangers. Even as he finished casting, he tore the arrow out of his arm, and sighed in relief when his enchantment flared up from the power of the spell and healed the damage. During the short reprieve his eruption granted, he took stock of the rest of the party.

Devona and Kusrune had finished bludgeoning the second warrior. She had moved on to another of the archers while the lizard waddled swiftly to the one still standing in Keinen's eruption. The third jade archer fell heavily, covered in flames and surrounded by scorched ground. Keinen was a bit hazy on how rock could burn, but wasn't going to questions his eyes. Siale was helping Mhenlo patch up Cynn, who apparently had been the sole target of the incinerated archer. Eve was wearing a disturbingly sinister smirk as she stole the life out of the archer Devona was pounding. Both of the remaining archers fell rather quickly after that.

After that, all that was left in their path was the tower. It was made of the same shiny purple stone the Mursaat seemed to favor, about as big around as Kusrune was long, and taller than either of the ridges it stood beside. It also had a pulsating gold seal engraved on it and a sparkling purple aura around it that reached about as far as Kestle could shoot with his longbow. Keinen did not doubt that the aura would do something nasty to whoever ventured in. What that something was remained to be seen. Without waiting for someone to come up with a better plan, Keinen loped towards the edge of the aura and started drawing a glyph in the air with his left hand. Once finished, the glyph hung in the air before him, glowing faintly gold. The next spell he cast would take it's power from the glyph and spare him the energy and exhaustion of casting it. He ignored the protests from behind him and stepped calmly into the circle of the tower's aura. Instantly he felt his energy draining away and could only guess it was being drawn into the tower. He wasted no time in casting his spell and as soon as the incantation was finished and the earthquake begun under the tower's foundation he turned to duck back out of the aura. He stopped and smiled when he saw balls of fire raining down on the tower and puddling into the cracks left by his earthquake. Cynn was not one to be left behind when there were things to burn. Figuring the tower would quickly crumble between the earthquake beneath and the firestorm above, Keinen stopped beside his fellow elementalist and they watched the destruction from just inside the aura's circle. The tower was still draining their energy, however, and when the seal on the tower flared, he knew they'd misjudged. There was no way for them to dodge the lightning that chained out from the tower and into the two of them. They were just lucky the force of it threw them out of the range of the tower and the seal. They were also fortunate to have two such capaple monks close at hand.

"Sweet Melandru, are all elementalists like this?" Keinen would have laughed at Kestle's exasperated question if he didn't hurt so damn much. The burns were fading fast, though, under Siale's soft healing touch. They still reminded him of when he'd tried to fix his air staff, however, and why he hadn't tried again. He still carried the staff, it still meant all it ever had, and he still meant to fix it someday...just not when Siale and Kestle were looking.

"No." Mhenlo answered with the air of one who is resigned to his fate. "Just the ones from Surmia."

Once patched up Keinen told the others exactly what the aparkly purple ring of badness did and they started coming up with their next strategy. The seal was glowing fainter after sustaining an earthquake and a firestorm, but it was slowly growing in brightness again. They obviously couldn't overpower it at once with elemental magic, so now they needed something that could wear it down for good. The problem was the lightning. Devona could stand and fight in the energy draining aura without trouble, she didn't need anything but strength and adrenaline to make her hammer swings deadly. The problem was that if she took a hit from the lightning, neither Siale nor Mhenlo would be able to cast the spells needed to keep her from becoming charcoal. Siale said she could draw a lesser elementalist glyph as Keinen had done, but that would only give her enough extra power for one or two small healing spells, and Keinen figured it would take much more than that to break the seal. Eve could trade her blood to give energy to the monks, but then she would have none of her own with which to heal the sacrifice. Kestle's longbow would reach from outside the circle, but the seal and the tower were flat stone, arrows would do next to nothing.

In the end, Kusrune was the answer. The lizard could ignore the energy drain as easily as Devona, and Kestle explained that he and his companion shared a symbiotic bond. Somehow that let the ranger take damage for the lizard and send him healing from any distance. Keinen didn't understand, and neither did the others save Aidan by the looks of it, but whatever it was it worked. They all stood outside the ring of sparkly badness and cheered the lizard on as he slashed and clawed at the seal, while Siale and Mhenlo took turns healing Kestle whenever Kusrune got zapped. After a few minutes the seal crumbled, the tower cracked, the purple aura dissipated, and Kusrune came happily waddling back to his ranger pal to have his chin scratched. Keinen's scowl broke despite his best efforts and he burst into laughter. He couldn't help it. Siale didn't have to worry, so long as Kusrune kept waddling like that he'd let no one, not even himself, turn the lizard into high fashion footwear.


	6. Chapter 6: Two Days is All it Takes

"So does this mean you like me now?" Keinen scratched under the chin of a very obviously contented Kusrune. "Even though you hissed at me when we met and I think you look funny when you run? Not to mention I still think your hide would make fashionable boots."

The lizard made a low sound that was somewhere between a pig's grunt and the croak of a bulfrog that could only be the reptile's version of a happy sigh. Keinen let out a sigh of his own, though he couldn't call it a happy one, and kept scratching. He'd managed to escape the congegation of his comrades and the Lionguard and other important people of Lion's Arch. The meeting was both a celebration of victory against the Lich and his titans as well as to inform Kryta that the White Mantle and Mursaat were taken care of. Both purposes were rather bittersweet. Sure the Lich and the titans were dead, but he and the others had released them on the world first. It wasn't bad enough that he had watched Prince Rurik die in the Shiverpeaks, he had to help kill him again since the Lich had taken control of the prince's soul. The Mursaat may have been defeated, but they wreaked havoc on Kryta and the Shining Blade. The White Mantle had been effectively decapitated, but surely there were members still in hiding. Keinen was not in the mood for either celebrating or diplomacy. And he certainly wasn't interested in hearing all of his companions saying that it was all over now, and they could all go home.

So he escaped. He managed to sneak away from the group when no one was looking. It wasn't as if he was much of a presence in such meetings anyway. It would probably take them some time to notice he was gone. Only Kusrune, who had been sitting outside the meeting hall after bowling over a couple Lionguard with his tail, had followed him. And so there he was, sitting on the low railing at the top of one of the stone guard towers, looking east towards the dusk falling on the mountains, and scratching the dune lizard's chin. He wasn't sure what to do. Ever since leaving Ascalon his choices had been easy. Can't go back, might as well go forward and help someone else who needs it. Now the only choice was to go back. Oh he could stay with the dwarves and help them rebuild what the Stone Summit had destroyed, or do something similar in Kryta. But he knew nothing of rebuilding. All Keinen knew how to do was fight back against those that threatened. With the Lich gone the undead were no longer threatening Kryta. The Mantle were no longer threatening the jungle, the Stone Summit were no longer threatening the Deldrimor, the Mursaat were no longer threatening the Shining Blade and their allies, and the titans were no longer threatening everyone. The only fight that remained was against the Charr in Ascalon, and even they had been pushed back considerably. So he couldn't go back, and going forward was going back.

Keinen was lost in thought, but even so he heard the near-silent padding of leather boots on stone approach where he sat at the tower's edge. Keinen didn't turn to look at who was coming to find him. The footfalls were quiet as only a ranger could make them. He'd expected as much, knowing the group's two rangers as he did. The possibility that one of those two had asked his lizard to follow him had not escaped him either. Keinen was mildly surprised to see which ranger it was that had sought him out, however.

"I was expecting Kestle or Siale before you." He still didn't turn from his contemplation of the darkening mountains, and Aidan said nothing as he came to stand beside him. The ranger simply leaned over and petted Kusrune's neck ruff, eliciting another contented grunt/croak from the lizard. "Did they ask you, or did you tell them not to come?"

"A little of both actually." The ranger's voice was low and mild. He wasn't asking anything, he was just there, and fairly oozing an aura of calm.

"I can't go back there. I don't want to turn into that again." For some reason he couldn't fathom, when Aidan didn't ask, Keinen felt all the more compelled to answer. Perhaps it was just their common history, but why did he feel like Aidan was the only one who'd understand? Hadn't everyone in Ascalon been through the same?

"You won't." Still his voice was low and soft, but every word was strong and sure. Keinen couldn't help but draw a little calm from them. "I barely knew you then when I watched you realize what you'd been doing. I watched you see the line you had crossed, and knew for certain then that you'd never break through it again."

"That was before they killed Savaan." Keinen replied somewhat harshly. He wanted to believe it, but he didn't have Aidan's trust in himself.

"I've fought at your side many times since then, and presume to call you friend." A bit of dry humor made it's way into the older man's voice as he continued. "You're as crazy as Cynn sometimes, but not mad. Not like then."

Keinen snorted at being compared to the Pyro Princess. But maybe Aidan was right. He'd put that behind him right? He'd learned he didn't need a solid reminder to not go wild with vengeful magic, hadn't he? Perhaps he could go back to Ascalon, find someplace amongst the rubble to live, and spend his days fighting the encroaching Charr without going completely mad. But there was nothing but bitterness waiting for him in Ascalon. Every day would remind him of what he and all the others had lost. He had helped destroy the Lich and the titans, but he was not strong enough to live like that.

"I still have nightmares about the searing." Aidan's soft voice cut through the silence that had grown between them. It was getting truly dark and Keinen could not really see the ranger's face. "And I tell myself that when I am done with my battles I'll settle down. I'll build a home and find a woman to raise a family with; a son to teach as my father taught me, and a wife to tell me all will be well whenever I wake from those dreams." Aidan quietly pushed himself off from where he'd been leaning against the railing and started walking with that same almost silent tread towards the stairs. "None of us has much left in Ascalon besides old pain and hope. Maybe it's time for us to start making new homes there. Homes that the Charr cannot destroy."

Before Keinen could think of a response to that, Aidan was gone. Kusrune was still sitting by his feet with his chin raised in a bid for more attention. Keinen would almost swear the lizard had his lower lip sticking out, but it was full dark by then and hard to tell. He gave the upraised snout a fond pat then slid off the railing to sit beside the giant reptile. He found his thoughts winding predictably towards Kestle and Siale. It was plain as day to him that that was what Aidan had been getting at with his talk of homes and families. Kestle was a good sort, willing to stick with him through thick and thin, and no matter what reckless thing Keinen did. He got the feeling the ranger was a little lost then too. Hadn't he said he didn't belong in his village or his family? Where did he have left to go back to either? But he had also said, just before Keinen had escaped the meeting, that it was long past time he went home and reconciled with that family. And then there was Siale. She hadn't ever said much about her life before or directly after the searing, and Keinen had never been inclined to ask. Still, she had told them that she had a sister living in Ascalon yet, on the ruins of their family's farm near Serenity Temple. She also said they had been long estranged, even before the searing, but perhaps it was time for a visit. He had gotten the feeling that she had left Ascalon because she felt her talents were needed elsewhere, that she had been moving from battle to battle just as long as he had. He knew the petite monk had feelings for him, for all that she had never said that so bluntly. And he certainly felt something for her in return, though he hadn't a clue in the world what it was. There was definitely _something_ that gave him the undeniable urge to throw himself into the path of any attack he saw aimed at her. He'd certainly never felt that protective of anyone else before. But even with all that he was confused. Was Aidan telling him to find his new family and home with one of them? Build a new home and family with them? Could all the bitter, homeless wanderers find one together? Keinen didn't know and decided he didn't want to right then. He gave Kusrune's snout another pat as he stood and headed for the stairs himself. He looked back briefly and saw that the lizard was indeed following.

"You'd best go back to Kestle." The lizard tilted his head at the words, and Keinen wondered just how much the animal understood. "And if you tell him anything, be sure to mention that I still think dune lizard boots would be all the rage." With that the elementalist turned and walked off into the darkness. There were lamps and torches still lit in the city, he could see his way well enough to the room he'd been given for the few days he and the others were expected to be there. He didn't know when the lizard had peeled off, but Kusrune was nowhere in sight by the time Keinen reached his door.

The next day was more of the same. It was clear and sunny like all summer days in Kryta, and it was filled with more talking to the Lionguard and other Lion's Arch officials. Now that the White Mantle were no longer running things, there were a lot of things to sort out in Kryta's governance. And Keinen had absolutely no interest in any of it. He was a fighter; a defender and protector. He was not a preserver and rebuilder.

"Whew, I'll be glad to get out of here." Siale's lilting voice startled him out of his gloomy thoughts. "Not that I don't like this city, but all this political jabber is wearing on me."

She strolled up from behind him and Keinen shifted slightly to give her room to stand beside him on the hill overlooking the harbor. This time not even Kusrune had followed him when he escaped as Siale apparently had. Keinen had just been enjoying the morning breeze off the ocean and watching the ships bob in the gentle waves. There was a low stone wall at the crown of the hill, probably an ancient defense of some sort. Right then it was simply a spot for him to lean and contemplate his future. He was glad not to be the only one who found no interest in Kryta's political affairs.

"Me too." Keinen didn't look away from the ships in the harbor, but he wasn't startled when she leaned on the wall beside him, her shoulder resting warmly against his arm.

"You haven't been yourself lately." She began softly. Keinen kept his eyes out on the water. "I think I understand why, but I still wish I could have the real you back."

She paused and Keinen was drawn into looking at her. She was rather shorter than he, so at first all he saw was the top of her head. He was reminded a bit of their first meeting, when all he knew about her was that honey colored hair and the swirling blue tattoo beneath it. As if sensing his eyes on her, she looked up and gave him a view of her face. She looked sad, and worried. Keinen just found himself wanting to see her smile, like when they'd first met; the smile that made her whole face glow.

"I think I know what you're afraid of if you go back, and I know you haven't got a place to go back to, but..." She looked away shyly. "You'll always be welcome to come share what's left of mine."

Keinen didn't know what to say in answer to that and the silence stretched taut between them. Half of him wanted to say yes, take Aidan's advice and see what kind of home and family he could find with the monk. The other half knew, as it always had, that he didn't want to go back, couldn't go back, couldn't be content in those ruins. Not even with her? His mind and heart fought bitterly over that question, and each was as stubborn as the rest of him. He needed time, or a good smack in the head to get his thinking straight again. He didn't get either one. What he did get was the odd sight of Mhenlo out on the docks accepting a folded piece of paper from one of the Canthan merchants, then nearly dropping what seemed to be a letter with a look of alarm clearly writ across his face.

"What the?" Beyond his own curiosity, Keinen was also quick to see a welcome interruption in his indecision. Siale glared at him for a moment, then seemed to quickly realize he was pointing down at Mhenlo and not talking about her proposal.

"Wonder what that's all about?" Siale leaned out over the wall as if that would let her see better. Keinen just shook his head and shrugged. "Well, let's go check it out, but don't think I don't know you're just stalling answering me."

He stared at her cheeky grin with a bit of bewilderment and embarrassment both. He really had to stop underestimating her, or overestimating himself, at least when it came to dealing with people.

"Don't look so surprised. And anyway, I know I can't cure your wandering feet and wouldn't want to if I could. But I am serious about my offer, so at least promise you'll consider it?" Keinen nodded slowly. Even though the last few words were said in seriousness, her grin didn't fade. "Good, let's go find out what's eating Mhenlo. Hopefully it's nothing too horrible. One sulky friend is about all I can handle."

Keinen felt his habitual scowl deepen at being called sulky, but nonetheless followed Siale down the hill. By the time they reached the other monk, he was no longer reading the letter, but still looked like the paper foretold the return of the titans or something. He looked up and gave them a faint smile when the two of them approached.

"You look like Glint just told you the titans are coming back." Keinen saw no reason not to cut to the chase. "What's the news?"

Siale gave him a look that clearly said his manners needed mending, but Mhenlo just sighed. "It's a letter from my old teacher in Cantha. I studied there as a boy. He writes that there's some sort of plague running rampant in Keineng City and spreading fast. It's no ordinary plague, he writes that it changes infected people and animals into strange and berserk creatures. He asks that I gather together people willing to go to Cantha and help him strike at the plague's source." Mhenlo sighed again and folded the letter away. "There was a time I thought nothing could be worse than the Charr. After what I've seen lately, and the urgency Master Togo writes with, this plague appears very serious indeed. I'll need to talk to Firstwatch Sergio, tell him to spread the word that I'm looking for anyone willing and able."

"You don't need to look at all Mhenlo." Hearing Devona's strong voice startled all three of them to turn to where she, Aidan and Cynn were standing on the dock just a few feet away. How had they all snuck up so quietly? "We're right here."

"Devona..." Mhenlo started to try and say something, but the warrior didn't let him.

"I go where you go, and you're definitely going, so I am as well."

"And don't think I'll let you that far out of my sight." Cynn chipped in her two gold with her hands on her hips. "Who knows what trouble you'd get into if I wasn't around."

"I think you bring just as much trouble with you, Cynn." Aidan chuckled dryly, earning himself a combination glare and mischievous grin from the fire elementalist in question.

Mhenlo beamed at them all, and suddenly Keinen saw his own options unfolding before him. "I'll go as well, if you don't mind another elementalist." He spoke without giving it a second thought, though when he saw Siale's face after his declaration he thought that perhaps he should have. Even so, he'd stick with his decision. There was no place for him in Ascalon anymore. _Not even with her?_

"Of course." If Mhenlo noticed the looks passing between Keinen and Siale he didn't show it. "You're very welcome."

"Yeah, you're way more useful than that idiot Orion." Cynn chirped helpfully.

"Cynn, really." Ah Mhenlo the peace maker, he always kept trying.

"And how many times did we see him call down a firestorm on the enemy's corpse?"

While they continued bickering, Devona watched with disgust and Aidan chuckled. Keinen felt Siale start to move away from where she had been standing beside him and he quickly followed. She didn't go farther than where the dock met the shore before she stopped and turned to face him. Keinen too halted, more at the sight of her face than anything. She looked angry, but her eyes were sad and resigned.

"I'm sorry." The words came out as a whisper, and he couldn't meet her eyes.

"It's alright, I understand. You really don't want to go back."

"I would have." The conviction behind the words surprised even him. But he knew them to be true. For her, he would have.

"But only until you got another option." Her voice was hard and bitter, and Keinen could say nothing that wasn't a lie or that wouldn't hurt her further. "It's alright, I said I understood. And I meant it when I said I wouldn't cure your wandering feet even if I could. That's the real you." She gifted him with a ghost of a smile. "Ascalon isn't dead, though it's taken me all this time to realize it. And I think that maybe it's time I went back to see that for myself."

Before Keinen could even think of anything to say, Siale threw her arms around him and gripped him in a tight hug, reminding him faintly of their first meeting. Somewhat awkwardly, he wrapped his arms about her shoulders and returned the embrace.

"My offer still stands, and always will." She spoke into his shoulder with false cheer. "So take care of yourself until whenever you get back." And then she was gone. She dropped out of the hug and turned and trotted off towards the heart of the city, leaving Keinen stunned and not a little confused and angry with himself.

"So." Kestle's voice drawled sardonically from behind him. How did everybody manage to sneak up on him? "Will I get a stone dagger in my ear if I ask what I missed?"

"Possibly." Keinen growled, still angry with himself and all the chosen hero nonsense that had started him down this path in the first place. No matter that without it he'd have never met her, it was what was making him be an idiot and leave her now.

"Ok then, carry on." And he too dissapeared in the direction of Mhenlo and the others. Keinen thought it just as well, and knew that he could escape to a tower roof that night and not have to worry about meddling rangers coming after him. And so he did. He spent the hours until all the others asleep up on the tower roof looking east to the mountains. And then, when morning came he returned to his spot on the hill overlooking the harbor. No one, not even the lizard, followed him and he was left to his own thoughts. That lasted until he saw Mhenlo and the others gathering by the ship of the Canthan merchant who had delivered Master Togo's letter. After making an idiot of himself before Siale, he figured he really shouldn't miss the ship to Cantha.

There was little to gather up, simply his weapons and his backpack. His fire wand went into the bag, Savaan's staff went into his hand, the broken pieces of which were also stowed safely in the pack, and that was that. He reached the gathered group on the docks at about the same time as Eve, though he slowed his pace to let her go first. Something about her just creeped him out. It wasn't her fascination with dead things, all necromancers were like that. And it certainly wasn't her appearance, though Keinen didn't personally favor the leather straps look he had to admit she pulled it off exceedingly well. No, it was probably her habit of carrying around a human skull and engaging it in intelligent conversation. He still couldn't figure out if she really believed the skull was talking to her or if she just enjoyed freaking everyone around her out by pretending she did. In any case, he hung back and let her approach the waiting group first.

"Eve, does this mean you're joining us?" Mhenlo sounded pleased. Cynn looked put out. Keinen knew the two women grated on each other. He'd seen more than one almost cat fight while they were taking out the titans, but both of them seemed to respect the other's power enough to work together when they had to.

"Of course, Adam said it could be fun. Besides Cantha's got all sorts of dead and dying I haven't had a chance to see yet." She gave them all a very spooky smile. "I can't let you guys hog all the fun."

Keinen took the silence following that remark as his cue to join the five. Kestle and Siale were nowhere in sight. Siale he understood, she had said her goodbyes, to him at least, the day before. He couldn't say he was surprised Kestle was a no-show either, though. Before the whole Cantha trip had come up, the ranger had said he wanted to go home and make peace with his family before he did any more wandering. But wasn't Kestle the one who had said that all 'chosen hero' meant was that they were wandering do-gooders? Perhaps after visiting his family, might he not yet come?

"Keinen, good we're all here." Devona cut through his musings and beckoned him over to where she and the others stood beside the merchant. "This is Jiaju Tai, he's offered us passage to Keineng City on his vessel."

"All?" He couldn't help but ask, though he felt he knew the answer.

"Siale and Kestle both left for Ascalon this morning." Mhenlo said softly and Keinen guessed the monk had inferred much that had passed between he and Siale the day before. Then the monk's voice turned mischievous as he continued. "It occured to me to send a message with them to some of our friends still in Ascalon, but I didn't. That way there's nothing binding them to continue on if they are suddenly struck with a desire to turn back this way."

Before Keinen could really process that Kiaju Tai cut into the discussion. "The ship must be off or it'll miss this tide. I do have another vessel leaving here for Keineng in two days if you'd rather wait."

At that the conversation halted and Mhenlo and the others turned to board the waiting ship. Keinen, however, found himself hesitating. Two days was not enough time to cross the shiverpeaks and back, but perhaps...if they reconsidered and came back. But who was he kidding? They had all made their choices, and with how he'd dropped her like a hot stone as soon as the chance to go to Cantha came up, Siale wouldn't be coming back to join him. Still, he wanted to wait for them, even if it was only two days, even if they likely wouldn't come. He couldn't explain why. It went against every one of his loner tendencies, and as such irritated him to no little extent.

"Take the next ship, Keinen." Mhenlo's voice was smug and Keinen had to resist the urge to wipe the smirk off the monk's face. "We'll meet you in Keineng."

Devona rolled her eyes, Cynn was openly sniggering, Eve muttered something to her skull then laughed loudly, and even Aidan was wearing a rather smug smile. Yet, they all boarded the waiting ship and Keinen remained on the dock. He watched them cast off and set sail for the horizon, then turned and tried to figure out what to do with himself for two days.

They passed quicker than he expected, even though he spent most of the hours doing nothing but staring out at the sea from the hill overlooking the harbor. He did not let himself look east to the mountains. When he saw the Canthan sailors start to make their ship ready to depart on the noon tide, he knew it was time he stopped the wishful thinking and got himself going on the path he'd chosen. His gear was already aboard the ship, all that was left was him. He had just stepped off the slope of the hill and was making his way to the docks when he stopped in his tracks at the sound of a very familiar screech.

"Are you serious?! After all that, you didn't even go?! You just sat here waiting for me to come crawling back to you?!!"

Keinen turned slowly, keeping his face from breaking into a grin by sheer willpower alone. There, with her pack on her back and her wand in hand, was a very furious Siale. Beside her stood a very amused Kestle and a very oblivious Kusrune with his chin raised in hopes of a scratch.

"Not quite." His lips twitched into a smile despite his efforts. "The ship leaves for Keineng City at noon."

If anything that seemed to make her angrier and she stormed past him to stomp up the gangplank of the waiting ship. Kestle followed more sedately, obviously trying hard not to laugh. "She'll come around, after all she did come back here for you." Kestle lost his hold and started chuckling. "But if she gets seasick, you're in for it."

"And you? I thought you were set on seeing your family."

The ranger instantly sobered. "I wrote them a letter back before we left for the fire islands, saying I would be coming home when it was over. I got their answer yesterday. They're better off without me around, and I'm better off without being around them."

Keinen wasn't the type to pry, so he let it drop at that. Surprising though the feeling was, even though he'd been feeling it more often of late, he was glad to have Siale and Kestle along. With a shrug he let his face split into the grin he'd been holding back. "Well then, welcome aboard."

Over the sound of his boots on teh gangplank and the general hubub of the sailors going about their business on the ship, Keinen didn't quite catch Kestle's whispered response, but it sounded like, "Gods bless that girl."


	7. Chapter 7: Fun Times For Some

"Who is that?"

"_What_ is that?"

Kestle suppressed a sigh and stepped forward. He should've known he'd have to take on the role of spokesman for the trio. For all that Keinen had called him tactless, it was the elementalist who usually ended up offending people with his sharp tongue. Though Kestle had to assume that was often on purpose.

They'd docked sucessfully in Cantha. Siale hadn't even gotten seasick on the voyage, and thus hadn't ripped Keinen's head off for dragging her along. Being a couple days behind Mhenlo and his group they hadn't been surprised when the Dockmaster informed them their friends had gone ahead. Mhenlo and the others were supposed to have waited for them in Bukdek Byway. Which was where Kestle, Keinen and Siale were then standing, looking at a lone person who was decidedly not Mhenlo or anyone else they knew.

The man was tall, towering over Siale and edging out over Keinen and Kestle even. His black hair was pulled into a high tail and fanned upwards, giving him the illusion of even greater height. His clothing was loose, in places it was simply wrapped cloth, and all dyed in rich, dark shades of blue and purple. Black tattoos twined across his deeply tanned skin, covering nearly every inch of him. They spread from his feet to his fingertips, even up his neck, though they stopped short of his face. Colorful beads, bits of polished bone, feathers and coins hung from his belt or were sewn into his clothing. Kestle could only imagine the rattling all the oddments would make as the man walked. Despite his very odd appearance, the truly strange thing about the man was the way he seemed to track their movements as they approached, though his eyes were firmly shut.

"You all shine rather brightly." The man spoke before Kestle had a chance to ask who he was. "What deeds have you done to leave such a mark on the mists?"

"Huh?"

The man ignored Siale's eloquent question and turned his head as if looking them each over. His eyes still had not opened. Kestle fought the urge to take a wary step backwards when the man's blind regard fell on him. Keinen too held his ground, but scowled deeper than usual.

"Ah, you are Brother Mhenlo's friends." The man smiled as he came to that realization. "Then it is no wonder you glow like a torch flame." He then quickly lifted his eyelids, revealing eyes nearly as dark as his hair. He glanced over each of them again, then let his eyes rest on Kusrune sitting comfortably by the ranger's side. "Though, I did not expect you to look quite like that."

Kestle knew he at least was gaping at the strange man. "Who...are you?"

"My apologies." He said with a fluid bow. "I am Jektei, a student of Master Togo's. He asked me to wait here for brother Mhenlo, who in turn asked me to wait for you. If we hurry we can still catch them on their way to Vizunah Square."

And so they went, through the giant honey comb of a city, the blind leading the blind. Well, Kestle supposed he should amend that. It was more like the self inflicted blind leading the hopelessly lost. Keinen didn't have a sense of direction to speak of, and Siale wasn't much better, but Kestle was a tracker born and bred. It was hard for him to admit he was completely turned around, totally at a loss as to which way they were going or where they had come from. But after a few turns in the cramped city streets he had to do just that. He didn't like the feeling, and he certainly didn't like the city. He'd thought Ascalon City and Rin were amazing before the Charr had burned them, but Keineng was something else altogether. The cities of Ascalon seemed like little more than modest towns beside the sprawling mass that was the capital of Cantha. The cities of Ascalon had been much more beautiful, however. Nothing grew in Keineng except mold and pest populations. Even Kusrune seemed to disapprove, hissing at any rats that scurried before him. Siale sniffed delicately and stepped around the ubiquitous puddles. Keinen seemed indifferent to the place, but he was still scowling deeper than usual.

Their guide appeared to take no notice of the filth in his surroundings, but perhaps that was because he didn't see them. Jektei had closed his eyes as soon as they started off towards wherever Mhenlo was waiting, and closed they remained. The man hadn't run into any walls yet, so Kestle figured he had to be seeing something, but didn't have a clue as to what. He kept leading them down street after street, occasionally glancing about to look at nothing.

"How do you think he's seeing things?" Siale leaned over and whispered to Kestle. He just shrugged in response.

"Through the mists." Their guide answered without turning his closed eyes from the street ahead of them. "Every action of every being leaves a mark on the mists, some brighter than others. I can see the glow of your friends and mine from here."

"Uh huh." And Kestle thought Keinen was weird. "So if this city is so huge and populous, where is everybody?"

"They cleared out of this quarter as soon as the plague started spreading. The only ones left are the Am Fah and the Jade Brotherhood. Be glad we have not seen any of them." Jektei paused a moment when the street widened into a sort of courtyard. "Heh, there was almost a cat fight here. Your friends definitely passed this way. Poor Mhenlo."

Kestle didn't see any evidence of fireballs, but had no doubt that Cynn was, if not the direct cause, at least heavily involved in said near cat fight. Suddenly he was almost glad to have come later, even if it meant being at the navigational mercy of someone who closed his eyes to see better.

As soon as they left the courtyard for another constricted street they were startled to find a body crumpled against the wall. It was badly burnt, and obviously dead. "Am Fah." Jektei said coldly. "They keep to the rooftops and drop down on any unsuspecting people below."

"Killing or stealing?" Kestle looked away from the charred body.

"Usually both. There's also rumors that they've been helping to spread the plague." Jektei still kept his eyes firmly closed. "Come on, we're getting close."

They found more Am Fah bodies lining the street, and by then sounds of battle were clearly audible. None of them had to say anything, they all knew to hurry to their friends' aid. They turned a corner into another broad courtyard, but this one was far from empty. Mhenlo and the others from Ascalon were standing in the center of the courtyard, along with several others Kestle did not know. All of them were fiercely fighting against strange monsters, abominations of flesh with too many faces and limbs. Scraps of clothing and the weapons in their mutated hands spoke of how they had once been human. If this was the result of the plague they had heard about, then Kestle thought everyone had considerably understated things.

There were only a handful of the bizarre plague creatures left, but they fought fiercely, ignoring their own injuries until the last. Still against the strength of the human defenders, they fell rather quickly. Kestle had an arrow nocked, but didn't have a chance to pick a target and loose before the last plague monster fell. The four of them and Kusrune didn't hesitate to join the others.

"Jektei!" Someone Kestle didn't know called out to their guide. When the ranger got a look at who had spoken, he couldn't decide whether to stare or face-palm. The man was heavily blindfolded. "Good of you to accept our invitation, and with friends no less!"

"Of course, professor." Jektei dipped his head in respect, though he was grinning. He still kept his eyes closed, however. "Too lovely a spot not to accept."

Just then Kestle heard a familiar chuckle. Mhenlo moved as if he was going to introduce them all, but was stopped when low growling, the clang of weapons, and an all too human scream split the air. The slapping of many running feet was swift to follow the scream.

"Now is not the time for introductions, Brother Mhenlo." Jektei was all seriousness again. His blind gaze was focused on the street where the sounds were echoing out of. "More are on the way."

Kestle immediately put himself forward of the spellcasters in the group. A glance told him Aidan and a female ranger with an eye patch were quick to do the same. Devona shouldered past them to take the foremost position. Kestle very nearly dropped his bow in surprise when he saw who was following her. It appeared to be a tengu warrior. It was clear from everyone's reaction that the fearsome avian was on their side, but Kestle had fought against enough of them back in Tyria to still be wary. He had to refocus his thoughts then, as a rush of plague creatures began to pour out into the courtyard.

Behind him a voice began chanting an incantation that was somehow familiar. In seconds a sparkling ward had wrapped around the group of casters. Kestle recognized it as a protection against melee attacks. The voice had not been Keinen's, but Kestle had no time to contemplate that. The first of the plague creatures were within range of his longbow. He crippled one with a shot in the leg, then Kusrune took it down the rest of the way. Devona and the tengu had already charged into the thick of things and were applying hammer and sword liberally. Kestle kept aiming for the plague army's spellcasters, while dodging spells and arrows from them as best he could.

"This way too!"

"And here!"

Even as the first rush of afflicted creatures began to break, new ones came from the side streets, surrounding the defenders. Kestle quickly turned to the nearest of the new waves. A familiar growl and the erupting of the ground beneath the feet of the first wave of afflicted warriors told him that Keinen was right beside him. It only slowed them, and they quickly shook off the effects of the hot ash blinding them. Kestle took one down before it reached the group, but three of the warriors were soon upon him and the geomancer. A puff of black smoke and a flashing of steel distracted both Kestle and the swiftly charging enemy. One of the three fell before the ranger could even see what had happened to him. The smoke dissipated to reveal a small man in dark clothes, outfitted with dozens of gleaming knives. He stood behind one of the warriors, ready to land an unsuspected strike, but seemed not to see the second warrior bearing down on him. Without another thought, Kestle sunk an arrow into the warrior's throat and Kusrune bore the creature to the ground. A stone missile in the face took out the other warrior. The man with the knives grinned like a wolf, then dashed off to his next victim.

Those patterns were repeated he knew not how many times. The afflicted monsters just kept coming, wave after wave. Kestle ran out of arrows after the second wave, and took the tiny breather between that and the third to gather what replacements he could from the malformed bodies. More than once he and the others had been hit straight on with a fireball, or an arrow, or a vicious hex, but every time Siale was right behind them healing any wounds as fast as they were inflicted. Kestle just hoped she was holding up better than he. He could tell even Kusrune was getting tired. But there was no time for that. All his thoughts had to focus on taking down the afflicted charging at him before he or anyone else got killed.

Finally, they seemed to stop pouring from the sidestreet. Kestle didn't question it, he simply propped himself up and tried to catch his breath. He could hear the others still fighting. The tengu's squawks were clearly audible, and several low voices were muttering incantations, either prayers or spells. But the street mouth he, Keinen and the strange wolfish man with the knives were defending was clear, at least for the moment. He took that moment to look around at the rest of the party.

Beside Mhenlo was an older man, balding, but clearly energetic as he whipped his staff around and conjured balls of blue lightning beneath the feet of any afflicted who wandered near. Eve looked to be carrying on an animated conversation with her pet skull while sucking the life out of her enemies. Aidan was his usual steady self, Cynn had several of the creatures in flames, and Devona was enthusiastically applying her hammer. The tengu warrior had carved a swath through the afflicted, whether with his sword or his claws, Kestle was not sure. Jektei still had his eyes firmly closed and was doing some sort of weird contortion that resulted in a spray of blue lightning hitting an afflicted creature square in the face. The one eyed ranger woman was surprisingly accurate for someone without binocular vision. The blindfolded man Jektei had called professor was standing behind a veritable wall of ethereal spirits held down by misty chains. Another elementalist, clearly a geomancer, was cracking jokes between each spell he lobbed at his enemies. Another female monk with a very intricate hair-do was tending to a mesmer who looked more upset by the rips in his silk shirt than his injuries. Kestle flinched when he saw an afflicted corpse suddenly burst in a putrid explosion of diseased flesh. A woman with long dark hair, evidently another necromancer, gave a throaty cackle and exploded another body beneath the feet of a charging afflicted warrior.

Kestle couldn't do much more than stare for a while. And he thought his group was bizarre...

"You might want to go pick up some more arrows." Keinen intoned calmly. "There's more coming."

Keslte moved to do just that, then noticed his friend was wearing a truly terrifying battle grin. "You're enjoying this?!"

Keinen just grinned wider and reached down to pat Kusrune's ruff. The lizard grunted happily at the attention.

Just then the next wave of attackers began to spill into the courtyard from their street. Kestle braced himself for another battle just as the wolfish man appeared beside him in a puff of black smoke. The man gave Kestle a strange look before pulling a cloth mask over the lower half of his face.

"You mean you aren't?" He flipped his knives theatrically, and Kestle just knew he was grinning under the mask.

The man didn't wait for an answer and dashed off to meet the newest threat head on. Kestle just sighed and grimly started firing. He was sure of one thing at least, they were all, every last one of them, crazy.


	8. Chapter 8: Enter the Warrior

They were out of the city. That was the thought that sustained him; at least they were out of the city. It had taken far too long for that to happen, in Kestle's mind. Amazingly enough everyone had survived the long battle in Vizunah Square, only to find the vengeful spirit behind the plague waiting for them at the end of the stream of afflicted creatures. Kestle tried not to think about that part too much. He didn't like being confronted with his own mortality in such a blunt, hands-on way. Irritatingly the whole incident seemed to make Keinen care even less about his own well being.

After that they finally got someone to explain what was going on. Kestle almost thought he liked being clueless better. Oh sure, they'd faced a race of beings who had been worshipped as gods, but somehow that paled in comparison to a renegade envoy who could solidify oceans and petrify forests with his voice, not to mention command an army of plague creatures and unsent spirits. And it didn't stop there. No, the one person they could go to for advice, the one person who had bested this Shiro in the past, had been dead for some two hundred years. So they had to go through some complicated ritual involving far too many tengu and celestial constructs to be able to speak with spirits. Then, and at this point Kestle knew the other envoys were just laughing at the irony, they had to rescue their friendly spirit helper from, guess who? Shiro. Why the other envoys couldn't handle this problem was something Kestle would never truly understand. Maybe it was all a part of this 'chosen destiny' he'd heard so much about. Much as he disliked it, that thought did calm him a little. He was a wandering do-gooder, and he was certainly doing more good there in Cantha than he ever would in his village.

Still, after waiting in the temple for Mhenlo and Master Togo to return with the two artifacts that could hurt Shiro, Kestle was well and thoroughly tired of Keineng City. He, Keinen and Siale had stayed in the temple, keeping an eye on Shiro's movements as well as keeping afflicted out, while the others had gone to the Kurzicks and Luxons to retrieve the urn and spear. And after those two treaures had broken in battle in a spectacular display of fail, Kestle leaped at the chance to get out of the stifling city for good. He wasn't sure what armies of mere humans could do after suppsoedly sacred relics had failed, but at least they were out of the city.

They were out of the city and deep inside the Echovald Forest, and at last Kestle felt as if he could breathe deeply without choking. He'd been inhaling sewage fumes for so long, he'd almost forgotten what fresh air smelled like. He'd never understand why Keineng's builders had thought it a good idea to put an important temple in the heart of the sewer tunnels. In any case, he was out of there. He'd even managed to convince Mhenlo that the three of them, especially Keinen, would detract from any sort of diplomacy with the Kurzick leaders, and so the trio was out patroling the borders of the forest for afflicted. All Kestle had to worry about now was battle from angry plants, forest wardens, and the occasional plague monster. Well, that and Keinen's apparent desire to get himself killed a second time.

"Will you just hold still and let me at that arm?!"

Ah yes, the joys of traveling with a stubborn geomancer and the monk who was his match.

"It's fine. You don't need to worry about it."

"In case you hadn't noticed, healing you is my bloody _profession!_ Now hold still!"

Kestle couldn't hold back a smile as he looked away from their ongoing battle and up at the stone canopy. He wondered briefly if Cynn and Mhenlo's relationship involved this much yelling. The forest was incredible, he could only imagine how glorious it must have been before being turned to stone. It was a little odd, but infinitely better than the city. Here he could not get lost. Though more than once he had turned to speak to a tree in the way only a ranger could, only to find it unresponsive stone. It was discencerting, but enough living trees had grown up in the two hundered years since the forest's petrification that he could always find true wood if he looked for it.

He turned back and wasn't surprised to see Keinen sitting grumpily on a stone stump with Siale tending to his injured arm. They'd been startled by a wandering group of Undergrowths, and the anthropomorphic bushes had not been friendly. In typical Keinen fashion, the elementalist had put himself in front of Siale and gotten his arm rather shredded when his armoring enchantment had worn off. Finally Siale pronounced herself done, Keinen shrugged back into his coat, and they were once again on their way.

"This place is amazing." Kestle found it hard to keep his eyes on the trail instead of the towering trees. "Even petrified, this forest is teeming with life."

Neither of his companions said anything. Siale was looking up at the stone branches in awe. Keinen just scowled and kept his eyes on the ground.

"I'd have thought you'd be thrilled with this place." Kestle nudged Keinen's good arm jovially. "I mean all this stone around you, you're right in your element here."

"It's not quite natural." Keinen took a long look around as they walked. "The stone calls to me, but it's so young. Compared to the rock deep beneath our feet, these trees are like infants."

Kestle swallowed the comment he was about to make concerning the forest's great age. Keinen obviously had a vastly different perspective on that. Further conversation was halted by clear sounds of battle from beyond a dense thicket ahead of them. None of them had to say anything, they simply rushed to find the source of the clanging of weapons and cries of pain.

By the time they had fought their way through the dense foliage, the battle was over. Only one person was still standing, though there were at least three bodies sprawled beside her feet. Kestle ground to a halt, bow at the ready. The corpses were not those of forest wardens or plague monsters, they were decidedly human. He held himself tense as the woman turned to them. All of them simply stared at each other for long moments. She was a tall and athletic woman, clad in darkly gleaming armor. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a simple, yet elegant knot, though shocks of it had fallen loose in the fight. Her eyes were dark and wary. Blood ran in a dark stream down her leg and dripped from the long, straight sword gripped in her gauntleted hand.

"Oh, for..." Siale shouldered her way between Kestle and Keinen and marched straight up to the warrior woman. The monk began murmurring a prayer and blue light soon began to heal the warrior's injury. Kestle slowly lowered his bow, but tensed again when the warrior challenged them.

"Who are you? These are Kurzick lands and we do not take kindly to trespassers." She had a clear and resonant voice, like the deep gong of a bell.

"We're friends of Brother Mhenlo. Now quit moving so much so I can heal this properly."

At the mention of Mhenlo the warrior, and thus Kestle as well, relaxed. "The baron told me of you. I've been patroling these woods both to find you and to root out these Luxon scouts. My name is Hyoridise." She brought her fist to her chest in salute. "I am a warrior of House Vasburg, and would be honored to join you."

"I'm Siale." She stood and returned the salute, her ministrations complete. "That's Keinen and Kestle. We're all from Ascalon. Oh, and that's Kusrune." The dune lizard had sidled up to Hyoridise and had his chin rasied in hopes of a scratch.

Keinen snorted. "Sure, you only hiss at me. Just scratch his chin once and he'll never leave you alone."

Kestle couldn't help chuckling, both at Keinen and at Hyoridise's perplexed expression. Still, she gave the lizard a tentative pat, then gave in and turned it into a full chin-scratch. Kusrune blissfully plopped himself down on the ground and rasied his chin still higher.

"Come on Kusa, no time for that." Kestle still had trouble not laughing. Kusrune got to his feet almost reluctantly and slowly waddled away from the still confused warrior.

"Anyway," Hyoridise shook her head and was all seriousness again. "There's a creek to the east, we can get there by full dark. It's a good place to camp, and a likely route for the Luxons to be using."

"Sounds reasonable." Kestle half shrugged. Part of the deal to get them out of diplomatic wrangling was that they help root out Luxon spies as well as plague monsters. The warrior woman Hyoridise merely nodded, said a quick thanks to Siale, and strode off without a glance at the bodies she was leaving behind. Kestle gave the corpses a quick looking over just to be sure they really were dead, then hastened after the warrior. Kusrune waddled amiably at his side.

As she had said, the woods were fully dark by the time they heard the burbling of the stream. Hyoridise led them confidently through the trees, while Kestle hung back to bring up the rear. The pale light of Siale's wand was the only illumination, save for the occaisional glowing bush. Still, the warrior seemed not to mind the darkness and brought them to a cleared circle that was obviously a much used campsite. A small ring of stones stood in the center of the clearing, and so Kestle went to gather some firewood even as the others moved to set up camp.

He took Hyoridise's remark about Luxons to heart and kept his bow with him. However, there was nothing to disturb the solemn peace of the forest save the sounds of his wood gathering. Even once he had an armload of dry branches, Kestle simply stood in the dark quiet and enjoyed the stillness of the forest. Kusrune sat contentedly by his feet, bumping against his leg often in a bid for more attention.

"Come on, Kusa." Kestle hefted his load and started back towards the campsite. "I'll give you a good rub once the fire's lit."

When he returned to the clearing, Kestle found his companions already busy making camp. Well, some of them anyway. Keinen was no where to be seen. Siale had set her wand on a nearby tree stump and was trying to set up her little tent in the small circle of light it gave. Hyoridise was rolling a petrified log towards the fire ring to make a place to sit by the fire. Once done she took a seat on her bench and Kusrune waddled over to sit beside her. Kestle had to smile at his lizard friend's happy grunt when the warrior started scratching his chin. With a chuckle, Kestle began setting the dry logs in the fire ring. A few soft words later and the sticks were burning merrily.

"Well that's a neat trick." Hyoridise was watching him curiously. "I never thought to use magic to light a fire."

"It's not magic." Kestle moved to sit on the end of her log bench. Kusrune stretched between them, hoping to get attention from both no doubt. "Just old ranger lore. It's all just knowing how to talk to the wood."

"Huh, you sound like my father."

"Hmm?" Kestle reached down to give the lizard his promised rub. Kusrune grunted happily as he stretched.

"He's a tree singer, one of those who tend the Forever Trees. He says the same as you often; 'The trees hold more knowledge than we've forgotten, you just have to know how to sing to the stone to learn it.'" She leaned back and stretched her legs towards the fire. "I guess I've never known how to sing to the stone. The trees have never told me anything beyond which branches are good for hiding my enemies."

"Kestle?" Siale called as she joined them beside the fire. "Might I borrow Kusrune?"

The ranger grinned and nodded. He murmurred to the lizard at his feet and gave him a final pat on the head. Siale smiled her thanks and set off towards the dark forest, glowing wand in hand. Kusrune waddled beside her and soon both were lost to sight.

"Where are they going?"

Kestle reached out and dropped another log on the fire. "To find dinner. Siale insists that since we protect her all day that the least she can do is feed us at night. Really, I think Keinen and I would be dead several times over without her, but it's easier not to argue when she sets her mind to something."

"You aren't worried? Many things roam these woods, few of them friendly to humans."

"She has Kusrune with her, and I'll know if something happens to him." Even when far away Kestle could feel the presence of his lizard friend. He would know instantly if anything were to happen. Besides he knew Keinen would pull a Cynn and incinerate him if anything were to happen to the monk while she was guarded by his lizard. That alone was incentive enough for the ranger to never let her go unless he was sure it was safe. And speaking of whom... "Where's Keinen?"

"At the creek. He said something about washing his hair." Hyoridise grinned mischievously. "So he and the monk...?"

Kestle couldn't hold back a laugh. "Obvious to everyone but them, eh?"

"As my mother likes to say, 'even a blind man could see it.'"

At the second mention of parents, Kestle's mirth subsided. It just reminded him of his own family, and the letter they'd sent, and how it's words were etched into his mind even after he'd burned it.

"Something wrong?"

Kestle shook his head and searched for another topic of conversation. "No, sorry. You said you were from House Vasburg, didn't you? We met some others from that house when we first came here with Mhenlo. Lukas, I think and Erys."

"Ha, those two. They're cousins, and both nephews of Baron Vasburg. Erys isn't so bad, if you can ignore that every other sentence of his is spent worshipping Danika zu Heltzer. She's a great girl and every bit worthy of the praise he lavishes on her, but he doesn't seem to realize that his gushing irritates her as much as it does every one else." She chuckled and Kestle couldn't help but get caught in her good humor. "And Lukas, well, somehow he's gotten it into his head that Danika is the only girl worthy of him. He's a competent warrior, he knows which end of the sword goes into the enemy at least, but he's the most idiotic and egotistical man I have ever known. I'm pretty sure his family sent him to Shing Jea Monastery for training more to be rid of him than because his skill's were lacking."

"Hmm, poor Danika. Poor you, you're related to them."

"Only distantly. My mother is from a very minor family branch of House Vasburg. My father is from a small vassal house to House Lutgardis. But minor or not, a Vasburg is a Vasburg!" Hyoridise thumped her fist against her chest in salute. "I'm sure your family has crazy cousins and misfits like that too, right?"

Kestle stiffened reflexively. "No...not really."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend..."

"No, it's not that." Kestle stared into the fire for long moments before deciding to just tell her. He was sick of the weight, maybe having someone else to confide in would help lighten it. "In my family I am the only misfit. In my home village everyone is the same, almost everyone is related by blood or marriage, and everyone knows everything about everyone else.

"I was born late to parents who everyone thought were too old to have another child. I have an older sister who was married with children of her own before I was born. Her sons and daughters were more like siblings to me than she ever was. Because of that and my apearance being so different from everyone else in the village, I've always been looked at as strange. It only got worse when I discovered my small talent for elemental magic. It didn't help any that I couldn't control my magic very well back then. No one in the village ever had skill with magic, so there was no one to teach me how to rein it in.

"The old women in the village, my grandmothers included, used to speculate that maybe I'd been fathered by a wandering mage who'd caught my mother's eye. Once started, the stories couldn't be stopped. I don't think my parents ever truly forgave me for that."

"It's hardly your fault who sired you, or what you might look like." Hyoridise huffed.

"Perhaps, but it was always made to seem so to me." Kestle's hand went unconsciously to the beads in his clan braids. "My mother always hotly denied the stories, but I never had the courage to ask her outright. My father was completely unapproachable on the subject. So I still don't know, not for certain. As soon as the opportunity came, I left home for the Ascalon Academy, intending to join the vanguard. There I'd find someone who could train me in magic, and I'd be away from all the stares and the gossip, and the coldness from my parents. I've only gone back once, and I don't think I ever will again."

"But they're your family." The warrior's voice was soft. "Surely it cannot be right for you to be cleaved from them so completely."

Kestle sighed and let his hand drop. The beads clacked together once then lay heavily on his shoulder. "I wrote them a letter, back before I knew I'd be coming here to Cantha. I told them that I'd be coming home as soon as my battles were done. I got their answer as I was on my way home, and as soon as I read it I turned around. My mother wrote:

"'Of course you are welcome. You are our son and so we will always make a place for you here. We have long despaired of you ever returning. It will be good to see you again. I am sure you are much changed, but you will always be the same to those who love you. Your little cousins have grown so, you will hardly recognize them. The young ones have been pestering me nonstop since your letter came for tales of your travels. I daresay they drive their parents to distraction with their wild desires for adventure. I am certain you can help dampen that folly of theirs when you come. Certainly you can tell them that adventuring is not all fun and games, else why would you be returning home and not still traipsing about the land? I eagerly wait for your return, my son, though I must admit it will be something of a change. While you were away all the old whispers had finally died down. I am afraid your coming will give the old gossips something new to gab about.'

"They are better off without me there, and I am better off without being around them." Kestle finished heavily, letting his eyes rest on the flickering flames.

"Perhaps you're right." Hyoridise said at last. "But no matter what happens, they are your family. You would not be you without them."

Kestle had nothing to say to that, but he managed a weak smile. Before his thoughts had a chance to turn gloomy again, the sounds of Siale and Kusrune returning pulled him back to the present.

"Well, Kusrune ran down a couple hares, and I found bunches of sweet mushrooms and a few really tasty herbs." Siale gave her cheerful report as she hefted the bag holding her finds. "I hope everyone likes stew! Is Keinen back yet? I want to go wash some of this dirt off me and the mushrooms before I start cooking."

Kestle opened his mouth to answer, but Hyoridise beat him to it.

"Yeah, he went wandering off that way." The warrior pointed towards the dark woods exactly opposite of the direction of the creek. "He said something about wanting to go talk to the stone."

"Hmm, sounds like him." Siale shrugged and bounded off towards the creek. "I'll be back in a moment to start dinner!"

Kestle just stared at the warrior woman, even as he listened for the inevitable confrontation. He couldn't decide who he thought would turn redder, Siale at finding Keinen still bathing, or Keinen at Siale finding him still bathing. Figuring someone in the camp had to maintain at least a modicum of maturity, he turned a stern look on Hyoridise for her trick.

She gave him a smile of mock innocence in return. "What?"

When after a few moments there was no shriek heard from the creek, either from the monk or the mage, Kestle couldn't help but grin. He dropped another log on the fire and scractched under the chin of a very contented dune lizard. Oh, he was fairly sure he'd get a faceful of angry elementalist for this later, but for the moment it was quite funny. And maybe the two would finally start seeing what everyone else did.


	9. Chapter 9: The Old, The New, &The Undead

Keinen was the first to return from the creek, and after what Kestle felt was too short a time. He must have already been on his way when he ran into Siale, the ranger supposed. Despite his initial disapproval of Hyoridise's trick, he found himself a little disappointed there hadn't been any screams.

Keinen had apparently also washed out his clothes, as he hung his ornate coat on a nearby stone stump to dry by the fire. He was clad only in his trousers and thin undershirt. His hair fell wet and loose about his shoulders. His face was also set and stony, and he pointedly didn't look at either Kestle or Hyoridise as he found his own seat by the fire.

As the geomancer set his boots beside the stump holding his coat, Kestle realized Hyoridise was watching Keinen in intent appraisal. For a moment Kestle watched her eyes rove over the elementalist. Then he looked his friend over himself, wondering what it was she saw. It wasn't often Kestle saw his friend without the long coat covering everything between neck and waist. Though he knew Keinen's power lay primarily in magic, he had also seen the geomancer wield his staff with speed and strength any warrior would admire. His pale skin covered firm muscle. It was lean muscle, but muscle nonetheless. Was that what women liked to see? Or was it his quiet aloofness that drew them in? Kestle had never considered the question before, but watching his friend shaking his hair out to dry, he realized it. Keinen was handsome. No wonder Hyoridise let her eyes rove over him from top to bottom.

Not for the first time, Kestle found his gaze resting on Keinen's odd hair. Wet as it was, the strange silvery purple color was deepened until it was almost violet. He had never seen such hair on someone before. Could it really be natural? Did Keinen dye it somehow?

Then Hyoridise sniggered softly, and Kestle realized with a start that Keinen was watching his scrutiny with mild amusement.

"I know why Siale and Hyoridise stared, but why are you?" Keinen's smug voice rolled smoothly over the words as one of his purple eyebrows arched.

Kestle dropped his jaw to toss back some smart response, but for the life of him he couldn't think of anything that wouldn't make his embarrassment worse. _Damn him._ He thought, and hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt. He could only pray to Melandru that Keinen would think his speechless squirming revenge enough.

As if in answer to Kestle's thoughts, Keinen gave a small snort of a laugh and went back to combing out his wet hair with his fingers.

Kestle's curiosity couldn't be quelled with embarrassment alone, however.

"I was just wondering..." He started awkwardly. When Keinen turned back to him with his eyebrow raised again, the ranger found the voice to continue. _yep, that teasing look is definitely revenge. _"I mean about your hair. I've just never seen any like it before."

Keinen looked mildly surprised for a moment, then replied with a shrug. "It's probably because of the magic." He ran his fingers through the purple strands for a moment before continuing. "Magic has always run very strong in my family. Many of my kin had hair this color."

"Oh." That had certainly never occurred to Kestle, but then he hadn't spent much of his life around the magically inclined.

"It's likely why yours has that tint of red."

Kestle's hand went to his clan braids unconsciously for a second time that evening. "Oh. I...I never thought of that."

Keinen simply shrugged again and pulled his half dry hair back into it's usual tail at the nape of his neck.

That was when Siale returned with her sack of mushrooms and an acidic glare aimed at both Kestle and Hyoridise. She didn't say a word as she set her cookpot in the ashes beside the fire, but her stiff silence was eloquent enough. Hyoridise was grinning, utterly unrepentant. Kestle, on the other hand, squirmed enough for them both.

"Lovely view from the creek, isn't it?" Hyoridise said conversationally, with a sidelong glance at Siale.

Whatever Kestle was expecting to come out of the little spitfire monk, it wasn't a sweet smile.

"Oh yes," Siale's grin was so syrupy it was almost disturbing. "But I think I like the scenery around the fire better." Her brown eyes flickered to Keinen briefly before she went back to her cooking.

Hyoridise was still grinning, as if Siale had just passed some sort of test. Kestle shared a look with Keinen, and noted with some amusement that it was the geomancer who was squirming now.

The silence between them all didn't have a chance to get awkward. Over the soft bubbling of Siale's stew there came the tell tale sounds of movement in the woods. Instantly Kestle was on alert, ears waiting for the small noise to come again so he might locate the source. Kusrune too must have sensed something. He rolled to his feet and kept his chin forward, letting his sensitive nose sniff out the scent of whatever moved through the forest.

The sharp crack of a broken twig resounded through the night. Hyoridise was a blur of dark armor as she stepped briskly around the fire, sword in hand. She melted silently into the shadows between the looming trees. Kestle was barely one step behind her, with his hands already on his bow.

"Stay here," He called softly to Siale and Keinen. "We'll check it out."

Whatever was prowling near their camp, surely he and the warrior could handle it. Besides, the two of them were at least still fully armored and not tending a cookfire.

Kestle caught up to Hyoridise before she had even circled around the nearest giant tree. She was creeping around the massive trunk, no doubt trying to catch whatever creature was out there unawares. Softly, and keeping Kusrune by his side, Kestle edged around the stone tree to her side.

"What is it?" He whispered faintly.

She simply shook her head. Between the darkness and the loose strands of hair that had escaped their knot, he couldn't see much of her face. Still, her whole stance was tense and rigid. She was expecting some sort of enemy. Kestle nocked an arrow and followed her another few cautious steps around the humongous tree trunk.

Hyoridise stopped advancing suddenly, and Kestle nearly ran into her heavily armored back.

"Luxons." She hissed back to him. "Half a dozen."

Kestle licked his dry lips and waited for a signal from Hyoridise. If they were going to go up against six armed enemies, they were going to need surprise on their side.

She leaned into the darkness around the tree and made some sort of quick motion. It wasn't until she moved back into the faint light of the moon that Kestle realized she had pulled a knife from somewhere. She still held her sword in her right hand, but now she also had a small knife in her left. In the dim light it almost looked like it was made out of bone.

In one swift motion she swept up the small knife to her right shoulder, the only place not covered in gleaming metal, and carved a shallow cut in her skin. Before Kestle could even react, Hyoridise was charging with a roar around the tree to face her enemies. A sickly green light shimmered faintly about the cut she had inflicted.

"Hyoridise! What in the?!" She was beyond hearing his shout, already deep in the midst of the enemy.

"Relax, it's a simple blood magic spell." The voice was Keinen's and unbelievably smug.

Kestle turned to find the geomancer standing just behind him, carrying his broken air staff, and still without his coat.

Before the ranger could even think to reply, Keinen was past him and casting a protective ward about them all. Kestle shook himself loose and joined the battle as well. It was pure coincidence that his first arrow went through the throat of the warrior who was trying to decapitate Keinen. At least that was what he would claim.

His second shot planted itself firmly in the shoulder of an assassin aiming a pair of daggers at Hyoridise's back. Keinen finished her off with a stone missile. By the time he had a third shot ready, a mesmer had fallen to Keinen's magic and the last luxon standing was held firmly in Hyoridise's gauntleted grip. Kusrune stood over one body, and another lay where Hyoridise had dropped him in her initial charge.

Despite the quickness of their victory, it was not without cost, Kestle soon saw. Kusrune had an arrow lodged in the thick hide of his hindquarters. It wasn't a serious injury, and Kestle let his bond with the lizard heal the worst of it even as he removed the arrow. The Luxon warrior had also gotten closer to Keinen than Kestle had first thought. The elementalist was cradling his left wrist. Hyoridise had half a dozen nicks and cuts, but was seemingly oblivious to all of them.

She had the last Luxon, a ranger by the looks of it, held up against the unyielding stone of the petrified tree. She had her sword pressed against his neck.

"Where were you going?" Her voice was low, and all the more terrifying because of it.

The Luxon, however, just laughed as much as he could around her blade. "Pointless to ask...we're already there!."

"Where?!"

"You filthy Kurzicks are done for." The Luxon grinned despite the sword at his throat. "Without your walking trees, you're nothing."

Hyoridise's face twisted in rage at that. The Luxon never got out another sound. Her blade flashed, and the ranger fell in a cascade of red.

Kestle stared for a long moment, his hands frozen on Kusrune's back. It wasn't until the lizard shifted under him, no doubt sensing his shock, that he resumed his ministrations.

"What did he mean, 'your walking trees'?" Siale asked softly from just behind them.

Kestle startled at her voice, but he really should have known better. If Keinen didn't stay behind, why should he expect her to? Indeed, Keinen was already flexing his freshly healed arm, and Siale was moving on to Hyoridise.

"He means the juggernauts." The warrior said flatly. After a moment Kestle realized she was furious. "They are Kurzicks who have tied their souls to the Forever Trees. They are immortal guardians of our forest. So long as the Forever Trees stand, the juggernauts cannot be killed."

"So how are the Luxons going to kill them then?" Keinen asked pragmatically.

"They aren't going after the juggernauts..." Hyoridise whispered in seeming horror. "They're going to attack the Forever Trees!" She whirled away from the tree and the body in a swirl of dark metal. "We must go. Now. The Eternal Grove must not fall!"

"Whoa, hold up." Kestle caught her arm, then quickly released it for fear he might lose his hand. The look she gave him practically scorched the air. He tried to be soothing, but her glare didn't let up. "We can't go now. We've all been traveling and fighting all day. Siale's just barely finished patching you up a second time. You wouldn't reach the Eternal Grove before dawn even if you left now, and you'd be collapsing from exhaustion when you did arrive. And that's if you didn't get killed in another fight between here and there!"

Hyoridise folded her arms and looked more stubborn than ever. All of a sudden Kestle remembered what she said about her father, that he was one of the stone singers who tended the Forever Trees. Small wonder she was so anxious.

'Look," He tried again, keeping his voice soft and reasonable. "Mhenlo and his group are there with the Baron. We won't do any good there if we arrive worn out. All I'm saying is we should get a few hours rest, then we'll go straight there."

She still looked stubborn, but Hyoridise glanced around at Keinen and Siale before finally meeting Kestle's eyes again.

"Fine."

Without waiting for any other reply, she stalked off towards their campsite. Keinen shrugged and followed her. Siale trailed after with a worried look on her face.

What little was left of the evening was spent in tense silence. Once the stew was cooked and served up Siale sat close beside Keinen on the petrified log. Though they shared more than one mutually warm glance, neither seemed to want to break the quiet. Hyoridise sat by herself at the edge of the fire and ate with a sullen determination. Something in her stormy expression kept Kestle from trying to reassure her further.

When morning came they rose and broke camp in the same stifled silence as the night before. Tactless though he often was, even Keinen held his peace and went about the tasks of packing up with a calm efficiency.

They passed under the unnaturally still trees quickly and quietly. The morning began to fade and they had not encountered any hostile wildlife. Kestle wasn't sure he trusted their luck to hold.

By noon they drew near to an especially large petrified trunk that appeared to have been carved into a large hall. It must have been magnificent at one point in history. It's windows and buttresses were gracefully and intricately carved. Much of the stone had crumbled, however, and many of the walls were fragmented and falling.

"What is this place?" Siale's was the first voice to break the silence they'd been keeping.

Though she did not slow her pace, Hyoridise's face softened as she answered. "It is Cathedral zu Heltzer. It is where the Urn of St. Victor was enshrined."

"What happened to it?" Now with the ice broken, Kestle added his own question. It seemed that discussion of her culture soothed the warrior's worry a little. Mhenlo had said nothing of the cathedral being destroyed when they retrieved the urn.

"The protective magics that kept out wardens and other creatures failed." She glanced up at the once magnificent vaults carved into the stone. "It was falling into decay long before your friends came to retrieve the urn. That decay led to the cathedral's magical defenses turning on your friends, even though Danika zu Heltzer was within."

"It's still beautiful." Siale asserted quietly.

"It is filled with wardens and other dangerous creatures who now call it home." Hyoridise's voice lost it's fond wistfulness. "And the magical defenses may still be active. We should keep moving."

And they did just that, skirting around the crumbling cathedral to continue their journey southwards. Kestle and the others looked up more than once to admire the architecture, but the warrior kept her eyes firmly forward.

Just as they were passing close to one of the outer walls of the ruined cathedral, the sound of cracking stone startled them all. Kestle whirled to look up at the lofty walls, fearful that more was about to fall down upon them. But it was not the walls that had shattered, but rather two of the columns holding up a nearby portion of the roof. A number of roof blocks fell, but that was not was had the ranger staring in amazed and horrified fascination. The columns were moving. Shards of rock fell away to reveal large figures emerging from the stone. Two pairs of stone arms hefted stone war hammers, two stone faces turned as one to regard the startled group of humans.

"What are they?" Siale hissed at Hyoridise who had already drawn her sword and bone knife.

"They are guardian spirits, corrupted by the evil of the wardens and the failing of the defensive magics." The warrior responded even as she took up the offensive position at the front of the small group. "They still protect the cathedral, but it seems they no longer recognize friend from foe."

Kestle drew his bow and took up a position on Hyoridise's left. He wasn't sure how much effect his arrows would have on stone, but surely the stone figures must have some weak point for him to aim at.

Without warning the two stone warriors charged the group. Hyoridise gave a wordless yell and ran out to meet them. Kusrune waddled swiftly beside her. As the two sides clashed Kestle noted the tell tale sparkle of Keinen's favorite protective ward surround them all.

Kestle's arrows had exactly as little effect on the stone creatures as he had feared, but despite that the statues had still fallen quickly. Kusrune and Hyroidise had done most of the damage, breaking apart the stone with heavy blows from sword and claws. Even Keinen's magic had not had the devastating effects Kestle was used to seeing. Clearly stone statues were somewhat resistant to the effects of earth magic.

Kestle was reaching down to pat his lizard's snout when another deafening crack split the air. A third pillar, larger than the other two, was splitting and shedding fragments of rock. Large stone wings unfolded from the confines of the column, framing a larger stone statue that was glowing red with malevolent energy.

"Oh what now?" Siale moaned.

Hyoridise just shook her head in awe. For the first time since they had met the warrior, she looked decidedly nervous. She drew her bone knife across her exposed shoulder and with the trickle of blood again the pale green energy wrapped about her. Then she was springing to close the distance between her and the new enemy.

Kestle nocked an arrow, though he knew it was nearly pointless to try and shoot the creature. Still, when the stone figure aimed an open hand swipe at Kusrune, Kestle's arrow plinking off it's forehead at least took it's attention away from the lizard. Then the ranger had to dodge hard to the left to escape being impaled by a volley of stone daggers.

He looked up from his evasive maneuver to see an eruption open under the statue's feet. Kestle knew that was one of the geomancer's most powerful spells. Unfortunately the statue seemed to be shrugging off most of the effects of standing on the fissured ground. Kestle heard Keinen growl, in frustration instead of as part of another incantation, and knew that Hyoridise and Kusrune were the only ones who could really harm the thing.

Then, as if sensing the ranger's thoughts, the red glowing statue raised it's arms and a great gale of wind erupted from it. Both Hyoridise and Kusrune were thrown from their feet. Kestle started forward and loosed another arrow at the statue's face. It plinked off harmlessly and this time, didn't even make the stone creature look away. He heard Keinen shouting some sort of warning to Siale. He realized the stone creature was readying another spell, one that the elementalist surely recognized.

Kestle heard the sharp sound of rock breaking and then he was doubled over and gasping for breath. Pain flared in his middle, though he knew he had not been hit. The injury had come through the symbiotic bond he maintained with Kusrune. He looked up, desperate for a sign of his lizard companion. Through the pain he could not focus on the bond between them to know how badly the lizard had been hurt. Kusrune was standing, but favoring one of his rear legs badly. Kestle tried to send healing to his companion through their bond, but his own share of the injury made it hard to focus. He wasn't sure how much he managed. Hyoridise was picking herself up slowly, and looked no better off. The pale light of her blood magic enchantment had disappeared and she looked as if she was feeling every last bruise. Still, she held her sword in a firm grip.

Siale was behind and to his right, chanting healing prayers with a measure of desperation in her voice. Keinen's low incantations sounded from just beside her, without pause as the geomancer slung spell after near-useless spell at the stone creature. Kestle knew they were in a race now. If they couldn't bring the creature down before he could again unleash the gale and that incredible shockwave upon Hyoridise and Kusrune, the battle was as good as lost. Kestle himself wasn't sure he or his lizard could withstand another hit like that. Then if Hyoridise went down there would be no one to stand between the statue and the spellcasters. He tried to rally, to at least bring his bow up, even if it was a pointless gesture. He didn't get any farther than bracing himself up on his knees. Kusrune was still badly injured, and much of that pain was coming through to him.

Just then an inhuman roaring sounded behind him. Before Kestle could think to turn, the roaring drew closer as whatever was making the terrible sound came up upon them. The ranger's jaw dropped as a monster of raw flesh and bone stomped past him. The grotesque creature stood half again as tall as a human with a skeletal head and wicked bone claws. The monstrosity paid no mind to any of them and aimed straight for the animated stone statue.

Hyoridise and Kusrune both quickly ducked out of the way as the flesh golem plowed straight into the statue. The two clashed as everyone stared in awe, and then everyone was moving again. With the unexpected help, at last the statue crumbled and fell, lifeless stone once again.

Kestle reached out to lay a hand on Kusrune's back as the lizard came limping to him. With the contact he could at last send true healing to his companion through their bond. A pair of familiar boots stepped purposefully into his field of vision. Kestle didn't have to look up from where he knelt to know that Keinen was surely looking smug. He let his eyes move up to his friend's face anyways. Sure enough, the elementalist was smirking at him maddeningly. Keinen didn't have a scratch on him.

Siale came to him next, and under her tender care the injury he'd taken for Kusrune swiftly vanished. When he was at last able to stand, he saw that there was an addition to their group. Standing just off to the side and studying them curiously was a woman only a little taller than Siale. Where the monk was light, however, this newcomer was all darkness. Her pale skin was made to look even paler by the tight black leather of her armor. Silver and red decorated the black, giving it an elegant instead of sinister look. Her hair was pulled into two neatly twisted buns on the back of her head. It was nearly black, with highlights of dark red and a small fan of dark blue feathers spread from one of the twists. Everything about her, from her carefully done up hair to her elegantly made up face spoke of nobility. In sharp contrast, the flesh golem that had saved them all paced restlessly at her side. A staff made from carved bone hung in a loose grip at her side. Whatever else she might be, the woman was clearly a necromancer.

Hyoridise moved to stand before the woman as soon as Siale had finished. The warrior bowed her head a fraction and thumped her fist against her chest in salute. "I am Hyoridise of house Vasburg, thank you for your timely aid."

Though the words were polite enough, Kestle could tell that the warrior woman chafed at having to follow proper protocol that could only delay them further. If the necromancer noticed, she gave no sign. She merely nodded at Hyoridise's greeting and turned her cool gaze on the others. Hyoridise quickly introduced them all and again thanked the woman for her help. Clearly the warrior recognized this woman as someone of rank.

"It was my pleasure." The woman smiled faintly, and Kestle had no doubt she meant it. Necromancers were strange that way. "I am Sunazei, a historian and sometimes poet of house Durheim. The cathedral is a dangerous place, but there is still much history to be found here. You've helped me by clearing out a few more of the obstacles to learning it."

"We are on our way to the Eternal Grove." Hyoridise cut in bluntly, but not forcefully. "We learned of a Luxon threat to the forever trees and must be on our way as quickly as we can."

"To the trees?" Sunazeo looked both alarmed and intrigued. "I have heard nothing of that. I must stay here to guard the stone singers who are attempting to rebuild portions of the cathedral or I would accompany you. Travel straight to House zu Heltzer, that is the quickest path and surely someone there will be able to aid you."

"That we shall do." Hyoridise bowed her head again.

Sunazei dipped her head and turned gracefully away. Her flesh golem lumbered ungainly beside her as she moved back the way she had come, no doubt returning to her own tasks.

"Who was she?" Siale asked quietly after the necromancer was out of sight.

"She is a cousin of Countess Durheim." Hyoridise related still in the tone of respect. "I have seen her some, often in House zu Heltzer, but never been introduced. Even in the house blessed most by Grenth, it is said that she is especially favored. After today I understand what they mean."

Kestle recalled seeing the flesh golem stomping into battle and shuddered. "Even Eve would be green with jealousy."

"Come," The warrior's voice was back to stern. "We have lingered far too long."

She strode off without a backwards glance at their defeated foe. Kestle made to follow, but realized that Keinen was no longer beside him. He looked about and finally spotted the elementalist sifting through the stone remains of their enemy with the toe of his boot.

Kestle sighed and stepped forward to pull his friend away before Hyoridise and Siale got too far ahead. Even as he approached, Keinen crouched and pulled something from the pile of broken stone. It was a wand, Kestle realized with a start. He hadn't seen the stone statue wielding a weapon of any kind, but then he hadn't been looking too closely.

Keinen just stared at the weapon for long moments, and Kestle wondered what the elementalist could feel with his magic. To the ranger the wand just looked like a narrow cylinder of swirling green malachite set into a simple gold handle. There was no carving, the stone was polished smooth. It was kind of pretty, but it didn't look like any magical wand Kestle had ever seen. Then again, the statue had used earth magic. An earth wand made of stone made a kind of sense.

Keinen tossed the wand in the air and caught it again by the handle. He studied it's length and spun it over his hand once, and then again. He looked for all the world like a warrior testing the balance of a new blade.

Kestle was about to ask either what Keinen was testing it for, or whether he could hurry it up, but the elementalist seemed to have finished his examination. With one quick motion he slipped his broken air staff through the straps of his pack and gently secured it there. He gave the new earth wand a final spin before gripping it firmly.

Kestle grinned and turned away to follow the others. Keinen soon drew up beside him. His habitual scowl deepened when he caught the ranger's smug grin. Kestle tried to school his features into seriousness, but knew he had failed when Keinen sighed and lengthened his strides.

Kestle still trailed behind the group, but he heard Siale's little squeal of delight upon seeing Keinen's new wand, and also Hyoridise's stern chiding to hurry along. Kestle looked down at the lizard at his side, and Kusrune gave a happy grunt before waddling a little faster. Kestle followed suit with a fond smile. No matter what they found at the Eternal Grove, no matter what enemies emerged to bar their way, he was certain for the first time in his life about where he belonged. It was right there, where his friends were.


End file.
